


Not Alone

by Cassiel16



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Edward's an ass, F/F, Lesbian Sex, Sarcastic Bella, Werewolf Bella, oc werewolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:12:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 42,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5369789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassiel16/pseuds/Cassiel16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bella isn't human. Having dealt with vampires attacking her constantly has prepared her for almost anything well, except for a family of vampires that accepts her with open arms, falling in love with one of them, and trying to keep her secret safe from everyone. Throw in some unfriendly werewolves who give her the ultimatum of joining their pack or dying, and life gets interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is really my first attempt at anything even remotely non school related (I guarantee you'll know it). You can find this also on fanfiction, but this one will probably be a little more polished. Let me know what you think, any advice is welcome.  
> Fair warning, if you don't enjoy girl on girl, you better leave for this be full of it.

Why I had to move here of all places is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, Forks, Washington is very beautiful with all the green and… more green, but I had friends in Phoenix.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan and I am a 19 year old werewolf. Yes, I am a werewolf. Well, I'm more of a shape-shifter, I can transform at any time. I don't age like other shape-shifters either, in fact, I don't age at all.

Vampires don't have to be around for me to be able to shift, I turned 19 and BAM! Werewolf. It's really not all that bad. I'm faster, stronger, and I don't trip over myself anymore. That, and the extra height is nice, now I'm 5'10 instead of 5'5.

Anyway, the reason I am here instead of Phoenix is because a couple of people may have or have not seen me phase into a werewolf to protect them from a vampire tracker that had decided that it would have been nice to have them over for dinner.

In any case, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that vampires don't really like me. They tend to start throwing hissy fits and attempt to rip my face off with their teeth. Which means I have to get all hairy and rip them apart limb from limb. All in all not a great experience all around so I've decided it's best to just avoid them.

XxXxXxXxXx

I pull up to the apartment that I have recently rented and sigh. I am really,  _really_  not looking forward to furnishing it. Shopping and fashion just really aren't my thing. I can live without a curtains and a bed for a while anyway.

I decide to check out the town I will be staying in for a few years and head towards the school I will be attending. Boring, but I'm not surprised, if anyone finds an exciting school just let me know. Today is Sunday, so nobody is there. Superb. Twenty minutes of driving later, and I've passed a diner, houses, and a movie theater… and now I'm out of town. Just peachy. I am so happy that I chose this place…. on the other hand, lots of forest for me to run around in.

Lost in my daydream of all the fun I could have chasing deer and rabbits, I find myself on a country road, and no clue where I am. I spot a driveway and decide to see where it leads to, if I'm lucky, people. I stop my Suzuki motorcycle and stare at the house before me. House might not be the word I would use to describe it, but whatever. Whoever owns this spends a lot of time keeping it pristine.

I manage to close my mouth and take the steps to the front door and knock. Something seems off, the smell maybe, it seems vaguely familiar but I just can't pinpoint what it is, and I raise my head to get a better idea when the door opens. I wish I would have stumbled onto someone else's -anyone else's- property.

The smell of vampire immediately invades my senses. I take a step back and widen my stance ready to phase at any time, a very low growl rumbling in my throat. This vampire, however, is different. Her smell is definitely vampire but it's different, milder somehow. Her eyes are a golden color I've never seen, and while her gaze isn't a friendly one, she hasn't attacked me.

"Can I help you, or are you going to stand there like a complete idiot?" The blonde woman snarls at me musically... can someone snarl musically, eh, whatever. She is very beautiful, as all vampires are, but her beauty came even before she was turned. Her blonde hair hangs in waves down to the middle of her back, and her red blouse and tight fitting jeans don't help in hiding her figure.

"I'm afraid, my dear, you have stunned me into silence with your beauty." I say bowing, laying the charm on as thickly as possible, smiling slightly. When I stand up straight I can see an amused smirk playing at her lips and she has one eyebrow raised.

"Really now? Well, my dear," she mocks, "are you going to continue to stand there like an idiot or are you going to tell me—"she stops and her gaze moves past me. She smiles, and let me just say that she looks even more beautiful, and friendly might I add, when she smiles. "Is that a Suzuki?"

"Why, indeed it is." I say smiling proudly; it is my pride and joy.

"Huh, it is hard to find someone who has good taste in women and motorcycles." She holds out her hand. "Rosalie Cullen. I don't believe we have met." I grab her hand and kiss it gently.

"Isabella Swan, Bella if you please. And, no, we haven't. I just moved here from Phoenix, Arizona." I say smiling up at her. She pulls her hand away and grins.

"I've never really been one for sun. Moved here recently ourselves, from Alaska." She says cocking one hip and placing her hand there. I smile; I bet they don't like sun, considering they sparkle in it. Wait. They?

"I'm sorry do you have siblings?" she nods and turns motioning me to follow. I do, ignoring my instincts to turn and run screaming in the other direction. I glance around and my jaw falls open. I blush slightly when Rosalie laughs. "I apologize, but your house is breathtaking. Is your… mom an interior designer?" I ask looking around. Her eyebrows furrow and I curse myself at my hesitation.

"Thank you dear, and no I'm not, I just like decorating, It's a good way to pass time." A new voice sounding musical like Rosalie's but warmer, more motherly, sounds to my left. I turn to see an older woman just as beautiful as her 'daughter' . Caramel colored hair frames a heart-shaped face. She isn't as tall as Rosalie, but she isn't short either. She walks towards me and instead of holding out her hand, she wraps me in a tight hug. It takes me a moment to respond, but I mean come on. Today is the first day I haven't been attacked on sight by a vampire and now I'm being hugged my one. "I am Esme Cullen, dear, and welcome to our house."

"Bella Swan, and like I said your house is very beautiful Mrs. Cullen." I say holding my hands behind my back.

"Please, dear, call me Esme." She turns towards her daughter and smiles warmly. "Look here Rosalie, the girl has manners, hard to find these days." I blush slightly and stare down at my shoes.

"Manners and a good taste in vehicles. My, my, Bella, I do believe you are a dying breed." Rosalie says smiling.

"You have no idea." I say under my breath and quickly change the subject when Esme and Rosalie glance confusedly at each other. "Uh where is Mr. Cullen?" I know all is forgotten when Esme smiles lovingly.

"Oh, he is at work, at the hospital, dear. Although, he should be home soon." Well, color me surprised, I mean the man -vampire, whatever- works at the hospital, where people go when they are sick and bleeding all over the place. Huh. I clear my throat and look away.

"Rosalie, you said you had siblings." I say hurriedly.

"Um, yeah the boys are out and Alice is shopping, but they should be back any minute. Would you like something to eat or drink until they get here?" She asks slowly, eying me carefully

"Oh, how rude of me! Yes, dear I can make anything you like." I shake my head.

"No thank you, Esme, I just had lunch." I say smiling, a vampire that can cook; now I have seen everything.

XxXxXxXxXx

We sit and talk for a while and, eventually, I hear a car pull into their driveway. I don't have to wait too long until someone comes into the house.

"Hey! Whose awesome bike is in the driveway? Babe is that yours, cause that is so hot!" A bear of a man walks through the door and pauses. "Hey babe who is this?" I smile and hold out my hand.

"Bella Swan, owner of the hot bike." I say smirking.

"You own the bike? That's hot, too. I'm Emmett, Rosalie's hus—"he is abruptly cut off when Rosalie elbows him in the gut. "Boyfriend, Rosalie's boyfriend." I force a confused expression onto my face.

"But you guys are siblings." I say trailing off.

"Carlisle and I adopted them. We have no problem with it since they really not related… well Rosalie and Jasper are." Esme says placing a cool hand on my shoulder and pauses, concern lacing into her features. "Bella, are you alright I didn't notice how warm you are earlier." I smile and nod, being a werewolf makes me nice and toasty, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, my temperature always runs high. So who else is there?" I ask, changing the subject, even though I can hear the other two males outside talking with one another, about my strange smell apparently.

"I don't know where the other two are, they were right behind me. Hey guys are you going to say hi to our guest?" Emmett shouts. Soon after, two males walk in. One has longer blonde hair and scars that look like bite marks cover his body. I feel sympathy for him, I've been bitten a couple of times and it hurts like hell. He glances over at me confusion swirling in his honey colored eyes. Quickly moving on, I glance at the other one and can't help but stare at his hair. Ignoring the fact that it's an odd bronze color, it's just plain ridiculous. It defies gravity. Permanent sex hair.

"I'm Jasper, pleased to meet you." The blonde one speaks, a slight twang to his voice, gently grabbing my hand and kissing it.

"Bella Swan. Pleasure is all mine." Jasper releases my hand with a smile. I turn towards sex hair only to find him staring intently, somewhat angrily at me.

"Did I do something, or is your face permanently stuck like that?" I ask with a smirk. I look over in Rosalie's and Emmett's direction when Emmett starts to laugh, and wink.

"No, no you haven't done anything, I apologize for being rude," he sticks his hand out," I'm Edward." I shake his hand and he continues. "It is just… I can't read you," he glances at his family, "like I can other people."

"I have a wonderful poker face." I say slowly, Edward's words putting me on edge. I feel Esme wrap me in a one arm hug, breaking the staring contest that Edward and I had begun.

"Alice should be here any moment." Rosalie says distractedly while staring intently at me. I clear my throat and look away. I should really leave. Like now. Before something bad happens, or I slip up again.

"I should go, the hospitality has been wonderful and the house is gorgeous, Esme. It was nice meeting all of you; maybe I'll see you at school sometime?" I say hurriedly and turn for the door. That is, until I see the somewhat hurt look on Esme's face. I look desperately at Rosalie for help and she shrugs.

"I think mom was hoping you would stay, for a little while. Maybe meet the rest of our family?" At this, Edward moves closer, "she has grown fond of you." He says and angrily and I stare at him disbelievingly.

"No offense, but you all have known me for about ten minutes or less." I exaggerate, "I just don't want to impose. Really the reason I stopped by was—"I am interrupted by the sweetest voice I have ever heard.

"Was to ask for directions since you got lost, I presume." I turn to see who the beautiful voice belongs to, and find an angel. This pixie is around 5'3 and, I would bet, 90lbs soaking wet. She has her midnight black hair cut short and styled in spikes at the end.

The angel giggles and dances towards me. I can faintly hear Jasper whispering to his family behind me but I ignore it completely. The girl stands in front of me and looks up, a broad smile on her face. Before I can make a sound, she reaches up, kisses me on the cheek, and then pulls me in for a hug. I have to bend down at an almost awkward angle, but I couldn't care less as long as I got to stay in this woman's arms. "I know that we are going to be great friends." She whispers in my ear before pulling away. She giggles again and places a delicate hand under my jaw and gently closes it. I blush furiously and look anywhere but in her direction. "I'm Alice."

"B-Bella Swan." I say my mouth dry. I hear quiet laughter behind me and blush even harder.

"Don't mind them." Alice says squeezing my hand gently and I nod dumbly, I would do anything she asked.

Wait, time out. Why am I acting like this? I shake my head to rid myself of all the thoughts I was having of this angel standing in front of me... I mean Alice.

"Alice, dear, do you know when your father will be home?" Esme asks a loving smile gracing her features.

"I'm going to say 30 seconds." Alice says going over to stand next to Esme. And as if she had seen it happen, not 30 seconds later did a man in his thirties walk in the door. He was beautiful, like the others, but had wisdom in his eyes along with kindness. When he sees me he smiles and walks towards me. He holds out his hand and I grasp it.

"I'm Bella Swan, Mr. Cullen." I say respectfully.

"Carlisle please, Bella, it's nice to meet you. I see you have met my family, and I apologize for anything they have done." I smile at him and nod. I step back so that I can look at the entire family.

"Alice was right; I really did come to ask for directions. It was really nice meeting all of you, but I have to be getting, well home, I guess." I say smiling at everyone.

"What do you mean, dear?" Esme asks me concern in her gaze.

"Oh, it's an apartment I have rented. It isn't quite home yet… considering I don't have anything in it." I say. "But I guess that is what next weekend is for right?"

"Dear, you can't stay in that apartment if you don't have anything in it. Nonsense. You can stay here until you can go shopping." Esme offers smiling kindly at me.

"Oh, no, it's fine really. I'll be okay, I've done it before." Oops. Didn't mean for that to slip, and I can see the concern in Carlisle's eyes as well as Esme's, and the distrust in Edward's.

"Bella we insist. Besides, I'm sure Alice would love to help you with picking stuff out. She has good taste." Carlisle says placing a hand on my shoulder. Well, lord knows I need help in that department, but why are they being so nice, they don't even know me? I decide to ask.

"Because, Belly-button, if you can befriend Rosalie before anyone else, you can't be too bad." Emmett pipes up. I quirk an eyebrow at him.

"Belly-button, really?" I ask and sigh when he nods. I turn towards Carlisle and Esme and nod. "Just for tonight. And then," I turn to Alice and she smiles brightly at me, "and then Alice and I can go shopping tomorrow. If you want." I look questioningly at Jasper when he laughs.

"Alice always wants to go shopping. You don't know what you just got yourself into." I stare in horror at Alice and she sticks her tongue out.

"Oh, no. I hate shopping." I groan and Alice stares at me in disbelief. I look over at Esme when she gives me a hug.

"It's official; you can stay with Alice tonight. Now what about dinner, what do you like?" I shake my head at her.

"No it's okay, I have to go by my apartment to pick up some clothes and I'll stop by the diner on the way back." I hold my hand up to stop her protesting. "I insist, it is enough that you are letting me stay here." I glance at the clock and notice that it is 5:30, had I really been here for two hours? "I'll be back at 7:30 is that okay?"

"That's fine dear. Do you want someone to take you?" I shake my head.

"I might need directions however." I say shyly.

"Just take a right out of our driveway and follow the road into town."

"Thanks guys, you really don't have to do this, but I appreciate it." I say and receive hugs from Esme and Alice and the others nod at me… except for Edward, I really don't know what his deal is.

I reach my bike and take off towards town. My very first vampire family, and they didn't try to kill me. Maybe Forks isn't so bad after all.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here is the second chapter. Thanks to all of you who took a look and are brave enough to read the second chapter. Hope you all enjoy ^-^

I arrive at the Cullens' house and sit on my motorcycle for a moment. I was going to sleep over at a house full of vampires, the only thing that could kill me really. I shake my head, what was I thinking? I sigh and head for the front door.

Before I can even knock once the door opens and Alice is dragging me up the stairs to what is, presumably, her room. As I pass the rest of her family, I wave. I can hear the chuckles of Jasper, Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme. I turn my attention back to Alice who is babbling away, and I haven't heard one word she has said.

"Alice, I'm sorry. I haven't heard one word you have said." I say smiling sheepishly at her. All she does is smile brightly at me, leaving me dazed. She giggles and I blush, quickly looking away.

We reach her room and its soft blue walls go well with her green comforter. Her closet is a walk in… or it would be if you could actually walk in it, it is filled with clothes and shoes. She sits down on her bed and pats the spot next to her. I just stand awkwardly and shift my weight from one foot to the other. She rolls her eyes. "Silly, Bella. If we are going to be best friends, I need to know more about you." I smile, her words calming me, and sit next to her.

"What do you want to know?" I ask timidly. What the hell? Anyone else and confidence runs through me, but when Alice is involved, it all vanishes.

"Where are you from? Why did you leave? Have any boyfriends? You know, best friendly things." She says lying back, arms behind her head. After a moment's hesitation, I join her.

"Well, I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. I moved, because… well, I had to, needed a change you know?" I ask, well, at least, it is partly true. I did have to leave, that or have everyone come after me with torches and pitchforks. "And, no, no boyfriends. Never had one, never plan to." I say my confidence partly coming back. At this Alice flips onto her side to face me.

"Never? Why not?" She asks curiosity coloring her tone.

"Because. I don't want one. Besides, I'm gay." I say nonchalantly. When Alice doesn't respond I'm afraid that I have disgusted her or something. "I mean, not that I'm going to do anything, ah crap. I can sleep on the couch, or better yet, I'll go to my apartment. I'm sorry, tell Esme and Carlisle." I get up and heads toward the door when a cool hand wraps around my wrist.

"Please don't go. Mom will be so upset… and I would be, too." Alice says panic lacing her voice. "You being gay doesn't bother me. I don't think you would try something; you don't seem like the type. Please come back and lay down. We don't have to talk anymore if you don't want to." She says pulling gently. Without much thought, I give in.

"I thought I had made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry," I say lying back down. Surprise rushes through me when Alice throws an arm around my waist and rests her head on my shoulder. Clearly she wasn't just saying it to make me comfortable.

"Nothing to be sorry for. You are very warm… it's nice." She says quietly as if to herself. "Tell me about Arizona, I've never been there." I chuckle at her.

"Well to begin there is this thing that you guys don't have called the sun. It makes everything bright and warm." I laugh when she pokes me in the stomach and mumbles 'smart ass'. "As much as I like the sun, though, I like the rain and cold more. I guess that comes from being warm all the time."

I told her about Arizona and the next time I look down she is pretending to be asleep. Going along with it, I kiss her hair and say goodnight. Soon after I really am asleep.

XxXxXxXxXx

The next thing I know, I'm being poked in the stomach and an angel is whispering in my ear again. I've never been a morning person, so I flip the other way and try to go back to sleep. I hear a chuckle that sounds like bells and the bed dips slightly.

"Bella, if you don't get up, I'll tickle you awake." The angel says laughing slightly.

"If you do that I'll kill you," I growl. The angel laughs this time.

"No, you won't then you won't have anyone to go shopping with."

"Not helping your case, Alice, I hate shopping."

"Alright, mom says that if you get up, she'll make you some french toast." That piqued my interest. I haven't had french toast in a very long time.

"You promise."

"Cross my heart." I sigh in defeat and sit up.

"Fine, you win. Do you have a bathroom I can take a shower and get dressed in?"

"Down the hall, on your right," She says before kissing my cheek and dancing out of the room. I'm pretty sure I sat there for at least five minutes staring before I started moving.

I reach the kitchen and see a plate of french toast sitting there for me. I look at Alice, astonishment clear on my features.

"You weren't lying." I say.

"I would never lie to you, Bella." Alice says in a quiet but surprisingly serious tone. I study her for a moment before turning to my breakfast. Let me just say that that french toast was the best damn french toast I have ever had. After I finished, I took my dishes to the sink and rinsed them off. I turn back towards Alice to find a tender smile on her face.

"What?" I ask confused. She just shakes her head and loops her arm with mine.

"Nothing. Oh, I should warn you. This is a small town, so your arrival will be the talk for weeks. Don't be surprised if you get swarmed either. But, don't worry, us Cullens have your back."

We go outside and I halt in my tracks. Sitting there is a canary yellow Porsche. I glance between Alice and the Porsche, and she giggles at me. "She is my pride and joy. Come on we got to get there or we are going to be late." I shake my head at her.

"Nu-uh, I am going to take my bike." I say halting her. She puts her hands on her hips and cocks one.

"I thought you said that you didn't like boys, you riding in on that motorcycle is a magnet for all, and I do mean all, the boys there." I shrug a smile twitching at my lips.

"So I like to break a few hearts, there is nothing wrong with that. In any case, what would be the difference if I show up on my bike versus arriving in your very discreet, bright yellow Porsche?" I ask, "Besides, I have to go back to my apartment." I say straddling my bike. I throw a wink in her direction and speed off towards the school.

I reach the school shortly; many of the students are already there, including all of the Cullens, except for Alice. I park my bike next to Rosalie's convertible, and head to where they are standing, smirking in my direction. Now, why would they be doing that? I soon have my answer, I can hear the whispers already, I mean, good lord, I have been here a total of 30 seconds.

"I told you to prepare yourself." A soft voice whispers into my ear, cool air rushing over it. I turn to face Alice and smile dazedly at her. Why she has this effect on me, I have no clue, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't like it. Alice gives me a finger wave before skipping over to her family, leaving me drooling behind her.

"Alice, I think you broke the poor girl." Rosalie says to her sister smiling wickedly at me. I blush and look away from them, just in time to see a boy with a big smile head in my direction. Let the games begin.

"Hi. I'm Mike Newton." The boy says smiling broadly.

"Uh, Bella Swan. Nice to meet you." I say with faux happiness. I look at him; he is definitely a jock if the letterman jacket is anything to go by.

"Here, let me show you around." He says wrapping an arm around me. I can feel the growl growing in my chest, and, soon, he'll be able to hear it.

"Um, I have to get my schedule and everything from the office, maybe later." I say politely smiling. His grin broadens, if that is even possible, and he pulls me tighter.

"No problem, I'll take you there. Come on, this way. So, Bella, where you from?" he asks glancing at me. I really don't like this, this boy following me around. He honestly reminds me of this dog I used to have as a kid… well, at least I  _liked_  the dog.

"Phoenix, Arizona." I say, and give him nothing else; maybe he'll get the message.

"Wow, Phoenix huh? Lot different from here, I bet. Why'd you move, bad break up?" He asks with a grin. That's it. I am not known for having a great temper, even before I became all wolfy, and today is not an okay day to be messing with me.

"No. I did not leave because of some jackass boyfriend. Now if you would please leave and not talk to me again, I would really appreciate it." I grit out between clenched teeth before removing his arm from my shoulders, maybe a tad roughly, and walking away. The look on his face was priceless.

XxXxXxXxXx

I get all the information from the office and head to my first class, English. I walk in the door and discover two things. First, Mike is in this class and he is avoiding me, good he got the message. Second, Alice is in this class, as well. I walk over to her, ignoring all the whispers and pause.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask with some amusement. She looks up suddenly as if surprised that I am talking to her.

"Not for you, it isn't." She says tossing me a playful wink. The class, hearing all of this, starts whispering even more. I simply smile back and sit down next to her.

"So," she starts quietly, looping her arm through mine. "I hear that you turned down the amazing Mike Newton." I laugh.

"That was barely five minutes ago, and yes I did. He assumed that I had left Phoenix because of a bad breakup with my boyfriend, the dumbass." Alice's tinkling laughter reaches my ears and she squeezes my arm lightly.

"You never did tell me why you left." She says quietly. I look at her, a serious look on my face.

"Bad breakup with my boyfriend." I watch her blink for a moment before her lips start to twitch.

"Yes, I know how that is. All the boys up in Alaska wouldn't leave me alone." I laugh and rest my head on her shoulder, ignoring all the whispering around us.

"I bet you were a heartthrob, Alice." I feel her chuckle and nod her head.

"It was worse for Rosalie, Emmett was so jealous. Quite amusing actually." I laugh silently, picturing Emmett trying not to pummel some dude's face in. The teacher walks into the classroom and begins class, not that I paid attention or anything.

When Alice and I walk out of English, we are acting like we have known each other for years. Her arm was linked with mine when Mike walks up to us.

"Hey, Bella, I wanted to say sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have said what I did. Forgive me?" I open my mouth to respond when Alice's arm releases mine only to wrap around my waist.

"Sorry, Mike, Bella and I have to get to class." Alice says sweetly, pulling me away. I raise my eyebrow at her. She shrugs.

"Wait, Alice, what class do you have next? I don't want you to be late." I stop walking.

"Silly Bella, my schedule matches yours, Carlisle asked. Come on or we will be late." She says grabbing my hand and pulling me along; I just smile and follow her willingly.

My next three classes pass by in a blur, I really can't remember what happened, Alice tends to have that effect on me. Alice and I walk to lunch together, surprising, I know. When we reach the cafeteria, everyone who was previously talking stops. Talk about awkward. I just kind of stand there, looking at my shoes until I feel Alice wrap her arm around my waist again. I know it shouldn't give me that much comfort, but it does.

"Don't pay them any mind, Bella. I warned you last night that you would be the talk of the town for weeks." She laughs when I glare at her. "Well, I did."

"Yes, I know you did, I just wasn't expecting everyone to stop talking as soon as I walked in." I look at her and grin.

"It is because you're so gorgeous." She winks at me and walks over to the table that her family has claimed. All I can do is smile, shake my head, and follow her.

I can hear the whispers about me. Things ranging from 'That's Bella, did you know that she rode that motorcycle here, so hot.' And 'do you think she could get me a date with Edward?' not likely since he seems to not like me at all. One voice, in particular, catches my attention.

"I don't see why the Cullens like her, she's nothing special. She's not even that pretty. I heard that she basically ripped Mike's arm off when he went to welcome her here. She's a freak, just like the Cullens." I zero in on who was talking about the Cullens like that. Sure the Cullens are vampires, but they are the nicest people I've ever met.

It really isn't that hard to find her since she keeps rambling. A petite girl with curly brown hair sits at a lunch table surrounded by some kids I had been in class with, Mike being one of them. She waves her arms around frantically, telling one of her stories I'm sure, and I can feel the breeze from her mouth moving so fast. Jessica Stanley.

I look around the table to judge everyone's reaction, and am surprised, actually. Almost all of them looked bored; a couple looked like they wanted to tip Jessica out of her chair. From what she said about me, I can tell she likes Mike, that, and the glances she 'secretly' throws at him. To Jessica's left sat a tall girl with light brown hair. Even when she got the chance, she didn't really talk. She was sitting rather close to the boy to her right, and when I look a little closer, I can see their hands entwined.

The boy looks like he could be the chess team captain. He is tall with black hair but seems nice… well, nicer than Mike anyway. Next to him, is a blonde girl that resembles a fish rather well. Lauren, if I remember correctly. She is the only one, paying any amount of attention towards Jessica. Who was back at bad mouthing the Cullens.

"I don't know, Jess, they seem alright to me. No one ever talks to them; maybe that's why they don't talk to anyone. Bella seems nice, too, she and Alice were talking during trig like they were long lost friends, who knows, maybe they are. I think it is nice for the Cullens to have a friend." The quiet girl speaks up. I remember her, Angela Weber. I like her.

"If you feel so sorry for them, why aren't you their friend?" Jessica asks snidely. "Why would you want to be friends with them anyway? They all act like they are too good for us, especially Edward." Ah, that is why she is like this, Edward had turned her down… can't blame him.

"I have tried." Angela responds hurt coloring her tone. "But Rosalie just glared, I really don't know why; I was just trying to be nice." Angela says not really talking to Jessica anymore.

I feel a nudge on my shoulder and look up to see Rosalie standing there, with a small smile and a tray filled with food. She sets the tray in front of me and then sits next to me.

"Out of all the humans here, I like her the most." She says quietly, and I don't point out her slip up. "Emmett and I had had a fight, and I was upset and she just walks up and asks me if I am okay. No one has come within five feet of me, and I am happy with that. But she walked up to me and asked, no one has done that before. I feel bad about how I reacted now, at the time I was just pissed."

"What did you say?" I ask just as quietly, barely registering the rest of the Cullens sitting down.

"When she asked me, I glared at her told her it was none of her concern and to mind her own damn business before I walked away." Rosalie says turning her gaze away from Angela's table.

"You could tell her that you are sorry. She would really appreciate it." I say softly.

"Why should I, I was right that it wasn't any of her business." She says a new sharpness to her voice.

"I think," I pause choosing my words carefully, "that when she asked, she wasn't trying to be in your business, I think she was asking just to see if you were alright." She sighs.

"I know. I'll apologize later." She smiles again and looks at me. "Thanks, Bella." I place my arm on hers and nod. I do believe, ladies and germs, that Rosalie and I just had a moment.

The rest of lunch went by without a hitch, and the Cullens didn't touch any of their food, they did a good job of making it look like it though. Alice and I head to biology. When we walk in, I notice an empty seat next to Angela.

"Hey, Alice, do you think I could sit with Angela today?" I ask, and she just smiles brightly and nods, skipping over to her own seat, while I slowly walk towards Angela. When I set my stuff down she looks up surprised.

"Hi, um, I'm Bella. Do you mind if I sit here?" She shakes her head and moves her stuff closer to herself. I sit down. "I want to say thank you for defending me and my friends." I say sincerely and a small blush appears on Angela's cheeks.

"You heard that? Well, uh, you're welcome." I smile at her and she smiles shyly back at me.

"You know, Rosalie feels bad about the time she snapped at you." I say slowly.

"I know she can be cold, but she was …off that day, a little more hostile than usual. I really just wanted to know if she was alright, but I understand why, if I had had a fight with Ben, my boyfriend, I really wouldn't want to talk about it with anyone either." She says and I can see that while she does understand, it still hurt.

"I know they don't hang out with anyone, and that everyone thinks it is because they think that they are too good for everyone, but I think it is because they are different, and don't want people to know. I certainly don't, uh, wouldn't." I say quickly and I can feel Alice staring intently at me.

"Jessica and Lauren are mainly the ones who think that. I think people don't talk to them because they  _are_  different, and different can be scary." Angela says sincerely. "And I think that Rosalie tries to protect her family from anyone who tries to disturb that balance." Angela finishes, and I stare at her. She has no clue how close she is to the truth. I smile at her.

"I think that we are going to get along just fine, Angela." I say and she laughs.

"I hope so." She says smiling back at me.

XxXxXxXxXx

The rest of biology passes and Angela and I become closer, making arrangements to grab coffee sometime. The bell rings and Angela and I part ways.

"I like that Angela girl, she is sweet." Alice says looping her arm with mine. "No one else has given my family a second glance when it comes to being friends, but she always smiles at me in biology and asks how my day is going. When she walked up to Rosalie, the whole school couldn't believe it, and even now, she is polite and nice to us." I just nod. "What's wrong, Bella?

"Nothing." I say smiling gently. Alice narrows her eyes but continues.

"Rosalie won't admit it, but she respects her because she defends our family from Jessica and Lauren all the time." She pauses and looks searchingly at me. "You agreed when she said different is scary." Uh oh, I know where this is going. "What about you is different and scary?" Yep, I was right.

"Nothing major, just something I would like to keep to myself. People don't seem to like me very much afterwards." Oh, yes. Nothing major, just that I am a werewolf, your mortal enemy, and I have this little inkling that the hospitality I have been shown would end if they figured it out.

"You're lying, Bella." Alice says softly. "I know you are, why don't you tell me? You can tell me anything, you know that right?" Alice says, there's hurt in her eyes, and suddenly I'm angry, not at her, but at myself for lying to her. Damn werewolf temper.

"I'm not the only one lying here, Alice!" I spit out before I can stop myself. Alice freezes right before she reaches the gym doors. "I mean, you didn't, uh, tell me that, uh. Well, shit." I finish. Alice turns around slowly.

"What didn't I tell you?" She says lowly, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Nothing, forget about it. We, uh, have to get to class." I rush out and move past her.

"This isn't over, Bella. What do you know that I have lied to you about?" She says moving in my way so that I can't get in the gym. I look around, frantically, trying to find a way out. The gym teacher gives me one.

"Girls! Get in here!" The gym teacher shouts, I sigh in relief when Alice moves.

XxXxXxXxXx

Throughout all of gym, Alice kept staring at me. Not in a threating, or even mad, way. Just slightly worried and curious way. And all of gym, I avoided her. After gym, I was out of there so fast; I thought the gym teacher was going to ask me to join the track team. I can hear Alice asking me to wait, but I ignore her and continue.

I reach the parking lot and, in no time, am on my bike driving away like a madman. I keep driving until I reach, what I think, is a good place to stop; It's all forest with no one around I hop off my bike and start pacing. I have really screwed it up this time. My first set of real friends, and I went and blew it. I have to get away from here. I couldn't stand the sight of Esme's hurt look directed at me, or Rosalie's disapproving glare, and most of all, Alice's heartbroken look. She has affected me the most. It hits me why; she is my best friend, my first best friend. I'm sure that if I dig a little deeper, I might find that she is more than that, but I am afraid of what I might find; who has ever heard of a werewolf crushing on a vampire?

I stop pacing; I need to clear my head. The only way to do that is to shift. I take my clothes off since I don't have an extra set and start to phase. It only takes a split second, but I can feel my bones shift and grow. When I open my eyes, everything has gotten smaller, well, I have gotten bigger, but hey, whatever.

As a wolf, I am the size of a horse, like an Arabian. My hair covers my entire body and is the same chocolate brown as it is when I'm human. My eyes match my human ones as well.

The first thing I notice is an odd smell, it is familiar, but I don't know why, but that isn't important right now, so I ignore it. I run into the forest and notice the smell is getting stronger. Curious as to what it is, I follow it only to find, what seems like, a small village. The smell is definitely coming from here.

I creep closer, silently, and I can see boys sitting around a fire, some with their shirts off. I roll my eyes,  _men_ , but looking closer, I notice something strange. The ones without the shirts have close-cropped hair and are muscular, all with a tattoo. I can't make out the tattoo from where I am crouched, but seems familiar. A warning bell is going off in my head and the wolf in me is telling me to turn and run, but I am curious and ignore it.

The wind shifts and suddenly I am upwind. The biggest male stands up suddenly and is looking in my direction. I see his lips move and the rest of the guys with tattoos stand up. They all start moving in my direction and they don't really look like they are inviting me to join them. Time for me to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.....yeah.....

I take off in the direction I came from. Now I remember the smell, other shape-shifters. Damn it, if I thought I was screwed before I sure as hell am now.

I glance behind me and don't see anything, but I know they are there, I can hear them and smell them. I would be fine if it was one or two, not four. They are too close for me to try and get to my bike, put my clothes on, and get out of here. So, I head deeper into the woods. Losing them would be easy, too, if there weren't so many. Damn werewolf genes, and if I had to guess, all the other boys sitting around the fire just haven't transformed yet. Hell, that's just great.

Wait a minute, do the Cullens know that they have six or seven werewolves as their neighbors? It'd be kinda hard to miss, you're hunting and BAM, barreled into by a gigantic wolf. Yep, hard to miss.

I run faster, trying, desperately to find some kind of border. I can hear the howling behind me, I know that howl, it is a howl of victory. If they think I am going down without a fight, they have another thing coming.

A plan comes to mind, I'll be toast, but I will give them the fight to remember. A river runs maybe six strides ahead of me, I jump across and when they come after me, I'll be waiting.

I make to the edge of the river and jump. I land on the other side and skid to a stop. I whip around, teeth bared and hackles raised, but there is one small problem. The pack didn't follow me. They are standing in a line at the edge, all growling at me. Is a little bit of water going to kill them, I was ready to face them, so why don't they cross?

Suddenly, their growling gets louder, and I can smell vampire. Shit. Well, today just isn't my day is it? I turn around to find the whole Cullen family staring at me, their stances in a fighting position, except for Esme and Carlisle.

I'm in a pickle aren't I, werewolves ready to rip me to shreds behind me and a family of vampires willing to rip my head off in front, yeah really not my day. I hear rustling behind me and a male voice rings out.

"Push him back over here, Carlisle." The leader, I'm assuming, demands.

"No way, dog, he is on our land now." Rosalie spits out.

"He was on our land first, leech. Now get him over here." He yells. First of all, I am a girl, secondly, how about we don't kill me huh, that sounds like a good plan to me, but I'm not about to change back to tell them.

"Come on, Sam, what has this wolf done?" Carlisle asks calmly. Esme and Alice are looking at me in a strange way and I shift my weight from foot to foot.

"Don't even move, pooch, or I'll rip you in half." Rosalie says darkly. Well, what happened to sweet Rosalie?

"He was on our land, he isn't from here. That makes him a trespasser, and we need to teach him a lesson." Sam says smiling darkly. I growl at him, turning my back on the Cullens.

"And what are you going to do, it is one against four." Sam says smugly. I growl even louder and back up, ready to jump across and fight him.

"I don't think that is wise." I stop and turn to look at, Jasper, cocking my head to the side. "I can feel your anger," He says simply.

"So what's it going to be leeches, either send him over here, or we will come get him ourselves," Sam says, barks of approval sounding from his pack.

"That would break the treaty." Esme says softly. Treaty, what treaty. I turn and look at Jasper again.

"We made a treaty long time ago with their ancestors that they would stay off of our land and we theirs, as long as we didn't hunt the humans or ever turn someone." Jasper says his eyes on the pack.

"You have no reason for coming over, he has done nothing wrong," Carlisle says, his voice tense.

"Then we'll get him ourselves, come on boys." Sam says before shifting. They start to back up, readying themselves for the jump across. I move in front of the Cullens, if this treaty thing was going to be broken, I bet a fight will come about, and I don't want anyone hurt.

"What are you doing pooch, you're in the way." Emmett says, eagerness in his voice. I turn and look at him, and roll my eyes. That's the point blockhead. "Did the dog just roll its eyes at me?" Emmett amusement coloring his tone. I look back at him and nod. He laughs. Carlisle speaks up.

"I think the whole point is to be in the way." He says thoughtfully, and instead of turning around, I wag my tail. "But why?"

I could hear the paw steps of, wait, one wolf? Sam is sending over one wolf at a time, idiot. I turn to look at Alice and Esme, I open my mouth in a grin and wink. Well if they are going to find out anyway, why not freak them out a little first.

"The dog just smiled and winked." Rosalie says with disgust. I just smile again. I turn back to the edge of the river and back up, effectively making the Cullens back up as well. "Rude." Rosalie says under breath and I can't help the bark of laughter. I mean I was no longer worried, I mean one at a time, piece of cake.

I see the wolf launch itself into the air and I'm all business as I let loose a loud growl. The moment he lands on this side of the river, I am on him. I go after his hamstring first. He turns to grab my neck, but I move out of the way. I launch myself and grab the scruff of his neck. He manages to get free and throws himself at me. He manages to grab part of my chest and shoulder while I grab the left side of his neck. When we hit the ground, he is forced to release my shoulder. I still have a hold on his neck, when I start to shake my head back and forth. I hear him yelp, but I don't let go.

He finally goes limp and whines his submission. I let him go and go back to standing in front of the Cullens. I watch him carefully as he limps farther downstream and swims across, returning to his side. I stare defiantly at the wolves that still reside on the other side of the river. The big black wolf that I now know is Sam, growls and barks, sending another one of his wolves after me.

The moment he hits the ground, he launches himself at me. I jump after him, but my foot slips and I stumble, we crash together. He wraps his paws around my shoulders as his teeth dig into my neck. He throws his weight to the right, and I fall. He finds better purchase around my neck and starts to shake his head. I can hear the howls of the other wolves and I know that if I don't get him off me soon, I will be done for. I claw at his stomach, but he holds fast. I'm running out of options. Suddenly, I let my body become limp and I feel him loosen his grip on my throat. I kick up as hard as I can, and he is thrown to the side.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a silver wolf jump across the river and head for the Cullens, who are too busy watching me. With as much energy as I can muster, I leap up and charge after the new wolf. I crash into her, yes her, and we go rolling. Now I have two wolves after me. I get up quickly and turn just in time to dodge the first wolf. He and the she-wolf are side-by-side and not moving. I growl and back up a little. The two come to an agreement it seems because the male wolf launches towards me and soon after so does the female wolf. The female wolf gets me by the scruff of the neck while the male snaps at my hind legs. I move just in time and he misses.

That's when I notice that he is dangerously close to the edge. An idea hits me and it might hurt if rocks are at the bottom. The female wolf is trying with everything she has to knock me off balance, but I am bigger than her. I run at the male wolf as fast I can go, and without thinking about it too terribly much, I ram into him, sending all three of us of the edge. I was correct in my assumption that there were rocks.

The female wolf lets me go and we hit the water. I feel my shoulder slam into a rock and I think it is broken. I claw my way above the water, looking desperately for air. I reach the surface and gulp in as much as possible. The bank is close by and I really hope it is on the Cullen's side of the river. I push through the pain in my shoulder and climb up the bank.

Slowly I make my way back to the Cullens and face Sam and his pack. I am panting heavily and the pain in my shoulder makes it hard to stand. Sam gazes back at me before turning abruptly and walking away. As soon as he is out of sight, a whine escapes my lips and fall onto my right side, relieving my left shoulder. Instantly, I am surrounded by the vampire family.

"Carlisle, I think his shoulder is dislocated," Edward says. Carlisle nods.

"Can I move closer and look at you, move your paw around?" I nod and lay still as he moves closer. I feel someone at my head and look up to find Esme standing there. She kneels down, placing my head on her lap. I can't stop the whine from escaping my lips.

"You protected us," She says and I nod. She smiles lightly. "We could have handled it ourselves you know, there are seven of us." I nod again and she rubs me behind my ears. "Well thank you. Oh and thank you for stopping that silver wolf from biting Alice." She says sincerely, and I open my mouth in a smile, letting my tongue hang out. She laughs slightly.

"It is dislocated, hit it any other way and you would have broken it." Carlisle says thoughtfully. "You are going to need to change back for me to reset it." Well damn, this is going to hurt. I sit up, despite the protest my shoulder gives and stare at Carlisle. He tilts his head to the side questioningly. I turn towards Esme and tug on her shirt gently, careful not to rip it. "Ah yes, Alice, could you bring some clothes, pair of Emmett's shorts and one of his shirts, it needs to be loose fitting." Alice nods and is gone. A few minutes later she returns and hands the clothes to Carlisle. He holds them out to me, and I take them in my mouth.

"Oh, so gross, why do my clothes have to be the ones to get dog slobber on them?" Emmett whines.

"You are burning those when we get back." Rosalie says sharply.

I look at Carlisle expectantly and he just stands there.

"Oh, um, yes, guys let's turn around so that he may get dressed." Carlisle says and if he could blush I bet he would've. The family turns around and I change back. The pain in my shoulder intensifying. I have a hard time putting the shorts on one handed and it is almost impossible to put the shirt on, but I manage. I tap Carlisle on the shoulder and he, and the rest of his family, turns around. I laugh at the expressions on their faces.

"Hey, guys." I say waving slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to KaitDaCreampuff for giving me the kick in the ass I needed to post this chapter. You da best, sunshine! As you can see, I suck at making updates even though I have these already done. To be fair, these past few weeks have been hellish.
> 
> Anyway, here you all go!!!! 
> 
> Also, there's this really awesome thing called grammarly that you can get online and it really does help with grammar, (as the name would imply) punctuation, spelling, etc . Bonus: It's Free!!!!!!!! So, if you are looking for a more advanced spell check or something to help you understand any mistakes you make blah blah blah, this is an excellent tool. Just type it in the search box and you should be good to go, it'll download and bam (really awesome feature is that it connects to any program you have on your computer--I think--and it works with online stuff as well).
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

!For KaitDaCreampuff as a thanks!

 

\---------------------

If I wasn't so nervous about how they would react, I would find this whole situation funny. The look on their faces, well, is hysterical.

Carlisle doesn't seem surprised at all, he is too busy looking and prodding at my shoulder. It was like he knew I was a werewolf and was just waiting for me to show everyone else.

Esme is looking worriedly at me. She steps closer and I'm worried of what she thinks of me now that she knows my secret. I smile weakly at her and she smiles back, grabbing my hand in hers.

Edward, well, has his usual frown and glare. I shift my weight back and forth nervously as he stares.

"Your face is going to get stuck like that." I say weakly and his frown lines deepen.

I look over to Jasper to find a small smile and he nods at me. I smile back.

Emmett surprises me. I look over to find the biggest smile I have ever seen, splitting his face. I cock an eyebrow and his grin widens.

"You being a werewolf means that we can wrestle now. I am so ready to kick your ass." I grin.

"You wish you could kick my ass, in case you didn't notice, I just beat three werewolves, two at the same time."

"All the better, you should be utterly humiliated when I kick your ass then." I widen my eyes at him in mock surprise.

"Emmett knows a big word like humiliated, I guess you did learn something in school." He laughs and shakes his head.

I turn to look at Alice when suddenly Carlisle grabs my arm and pushes my shoulder back into place with a 'pop'. A stabbing pain runs from my shoulder down my arm.

"What the hell, Carlisle! That hurt damn it!" I scream at him holding my left arm away from his reach. He smiles and shrugs.

"I thought it would be best when you weren't prepared for it. The pain should go away in a couple hours, with your speed healing and all. Speaking of which, if I hadn't done it soon, your body would have healed it out of place, then I would have had to break it, then reset it. You don't want that to happen."

"Still hurt, though." I mumble and turn back to face Alice, whose opinion I am fearing most. A tender smile adorns her features and I smile back at her. She rushes forward and grabs me in a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her as well ignoring the throbbing in my shoulder.

"You scared the hell out of me when you went off the edge. Please don't do that again." She says, her voice breaking.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it." I say into her hair, hugging her tighter. She pulls away and smiles brightly at me. I smile back when suddenly I am flying through the air, my chin throbbing.

I groan as I pick myself up off of the ground, trying to avoid moving my injured arm. Slowly, I stand and face my attacker.

"You bitch!" Rosalie screams at me and I almost smile at her unintended pun, almost. "Why didn't you tell us?" Rosalie says stomping towards me, and I stand there waiting for what she has to say. "We let you stay at our house, and you didn't tell us that you were one of those, mutts." She says the word with such disgust that I flinch and my anger flares. "You have been lying to us, all dogs are the same." She snarls, and I can hear Esme telling Rosalie to stop. I can also hear two sets of growling, only one of which is coming from me.

"I am the one that has been lying?" I ask, my voice higher than usual. "I walked into a house filled with vampires, and no one decided to let me in on this little fact."

"We have rules." Rosalie begins, but I cut her off.

"Yeah, you have rules, no telling a human or the Volturi get involved and the human dies. Yes, I know the rules. But don't you think we have rules, too. My God, I mean, I had to leave Phoenix because I was practically chased out of there, by the whole damn city. All because I saved a humans life from a vampire. All of my werewolf life, I have been chased and hunted by your kind. So forgive me if I don't tell you that I am a werewolf in fear of having seven vampires hunting me down." I pause when I see Esme flinch. "I move here and think that you guys are different because you have golden eyes and go to school." I stop and stare Rosalie dead in the eye. "Apparently, I was wrong. You are a blood sucking parasite." I say coldly, directing it only at Rosalie. Oh, I can see that I have royally pissed her off, but right now I don't care. My inner wolf is pacing and begging to be let out again, injuries be damned, but I stomp the urge down and watch, seemingly in slow motion, as she launches herself at me.

I don't shift because I don't want to hurt her, so I close my eyes and brace myself for impact… but it never comes. Instead, a very loud CRACK sounds throughout the forest and I open my eyes to see Rosalie wrestling with Alice on the ground.

"God damn it, Rosalie, stop!" Alice yells, as Rosalie hisses at her. Emmett and Jasper rush forward, Emmett grabbing Rosalie, and Jasper grabbing Alice.

"Babe, quit. She didn't even change, you could've killed her." Emmett says, and I can hear the worry in his voice. Jasper releases Alice and she comes to my side immediately.

Rosalie and I glare at each other for a moment before I roll my eyes and sigh. "I'm sorry, okay, it's really hard to control my emotions right after I shift," I say. Rosalie glares at me a moment longer before scoffing and looking away. I sigh again and turn to face Alice, who is carefully looking me over.

"Thank you for saving me from Rosalie," I grin weakly at her, "I guess that makes us even then."

"You're thinking of leaving again. Please don't." She says, suddenly almost pleadingly, to me. Surprised, I look away.

"I think I have done enough here, Rosalie hates me and the pack is not entirely thrilled with me either. I think it would be best for me to leave." I say quietly. I turn away but am stopped by the hand grasping my wrist.

"You'll come back, right? I mean you just can't leave. I--I mean, Esme will miss you." She pauses and looks at the ground. "I would miss you, too." She says quietly and I kiss her hair.

"I don't know, Alice," I say softly, and jump slightly when Jasper speaks from behind me.

"Rosalie doesn't hate you. She is disappointed that you didn't tell her, but she understands why you didn't. She lashed out because she didn't know how to deal with it. She'll come around soon enough. But, I promise, she doesn't hate you." Jasper says with a small smile. Well, that takes some of the weight off of my chest.

"Bella, please don't go. We can deal with the pack some other time." Esme says coming up to my other side and I close my eyes. I really should leave, it would make life easier for everyone. But I can't resist Alice and Esme.

"I have to go," I pause and I can see the hurt look on Alice and Esme's face, and the disappointment on everyone else's, even Rosalie's. "But I'll come back. I think that your neighbors need to cool off a little, and me being here won't do that." I turn towards Carlisle. "They have four now, but they have two or three more that should shift soon. I'm afraid that I can't protect you from seven." I stop and turn towards Emmett, ignoring the snort from Rosalie and Edward. "I apologize in advance for the clothes." And, without waiting for a response, I shift and run to where I parked my bike, I need to see an old friend of mine. If I am going to spend time with the Cullens and piss off the neighboring wolf pack, I need to be ready to defend myself, and the others.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. Erm...yeah. Sorry. Multitasking is a skill I need to learn. Work, school, sleep....not much else happens. Sowwy.
> 
> Have I told you that I don't really know what I'm doing or basic rules of English so I'm sure there are huge amounts of mistakes? Again, sorry. One of my biggest problems is keeping the same tense throughout the entire chapter.
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoy!!

CH5

Three months have passed. Three whole months I have avoided the Cullens and the Quileute pack. For three months I have trained to help protect the Cullens against their neighbors and I pray to God it will be enough. I know that they think they can protect themselves, and under normal circumstances, I'm sure they could. But we are built to kill them. Having the same amount of vampires and werewolves fighting against each other is a disadvantage to the vampires, even if it is only a small one. But enough with the dramatics.

Currently, I am heading back towards Forks, ready to face whatever the pack has to dish out. I am about a five hour run from their house. My "old friend" Rachel, happens to be the same person who watched me turn and walked me through everything. She has been a wolf for a long while and I knew that she could help me. It took her only three months to turn me into a fighting machine. Now I know how to fight werewolves, vampires, and werecats (and you think I'm dramatic? I feel bad if you ever meet one of them, they are impossible to get along with, even more so than Rosalie). I also learned a few things about what I am feeling around all of the Cullens, Alice in particular.

I reach the edge of the forest that surrounds the Cullens' house and stop. After all, it has been three months, and things can change in that amount of time. I don't know if they will want me back or not. I start pacing back, and forth, still unsure on whether or not to approach the house. I can feel the whine rising in my chest, and before it can escape I am barreled into. A yelp leaves my lips and I am about to attack until I recognize the scent. Alice.

I stand back up, but Alice doesn't loosen her grip on my back, giving me the ultimate bear hug. I turn my head, lean in close, and poke her in the side with my nose. She doesn't move, but I can hear her mumble into my fur. I roll my eyes and lick her cheek. She looks up suddenly and I can't hold in the chuckle. She sticks her tongue out and slides off my back, only to move to my head and hold it in between her hands. Searchingly, she stares into my eyes and I can't look away. Suddenly, it hits me how much I have missed her, and a low whine escapes me. A gentle smile graces her features and she rests her forehead on mine.

"I've missed you, Bella." She whispers softly and rubs my left ear. I whine again and lean into her touch, telling her that I have missed her, too. She sighs softly and I stare at her in concern. She smiles again and pulls away, but before I can follow her, I can hear her family coming through the brush. She smiles apologetically at me and I smile at her.

"God, Alice, why did you run off—"Emmett stops when he sees me. Nervous at his reaction, I move so that I am standing slightly behind Alice, and yes, I do realize that Emmett can still see me, can't blame a girl for trying, though. My fears are alleviated, however, when a big grin splits his face and he rushes forward. Alice steps out of the way and Emmett grabs my head in a headlock and starts to rub the top of my head, rather hard. I growl at him, more out of annoyance than anything, but he suddenly releases me and backs up.

"Sorry, Belly-button," I roll my eyes, I really hate that name, "I got carried away," I smile wolfishly (yes I know, bad, but hey, give me a break) and I leap forward and lick his cheek. Emmett yelps, rather un man-like, and starts rubbing at his cheek furiously. I can hear Alice laughing behind me and I turn to see her rolling on the ground, ruining her, what I am sure are designer clothes.

"Emmett, I am never kissing you again." I freeze, all of my muscles tense. Slowly I turn to the owner of the voice. Rosalie is leaning, casually, against a tree a small smile tugging at her lips. I glance behind her to see Jasper, ready to intervene if needed, and Edward glaring at me, once again. (What is his problem?) My attention snaps back to Rosalie when she steps forward. I know, you think I'm overreacting, but that girl has one mean uppercut. I relax slightly when she holds up her hands. I sit down and she steps even closer, now having to look up at me. She gazes at me for a while before she sighs and looks away. Concerned, I lie down and release a small whine. She looks up at me and smiles slightly before reaching forward and scratching me behind my ears. "I'm sorry I said those things earlier, and I'm sorry that I punched you. Do you forgive me?" I roll my eyes at her and stand before I place my head over her shoulder and pull her against me. After a moment, I feel her hug me back. She pulls away and I smile again, similar to the smile that I gave Emmett and she reacts immediately. "Bella, don't you even dare. I swear—"I lick her and I don't care what she does to me, we're friends again. I bark in laughter when I see the horrified, and slightly pissed, expression on her face. I hop away from her and head in Jasper's direction, ignoring all the curses and threats that Rosalie throws my way.

When I reach Jasper, a smile adorns his features and he nods at me. "Well, at least for a moment she liked you." I laugh again and pull him into a hug. I pull away and glance at Edward, who is still, can you guess, glaring at me. I small growl rumbles from my chest and that seems to shake him out of whatever he was in because his glare lessens in intensity and he nods curtly. I don't respond and bound over to where Alice is sitting on the ground.

I throw myself on the ground next her and lay my head in her lap, staring up at her. She laughs and places her hand on my head stroking me lightly. "You know," she starts, "Esme and Carlisle would like to know that you are back, and it would be easier to talk if you would change back." I nip lightly at her clothes and I hear her chuckle. "Right, no clothes." She says and, faintly I hear Emmett talking to Jasper.

"I doubt Alice would mind." I can't help the snort of surprise, and then the laugh when Rosalie smacks him over the head. Pretending to not have heard, I look back at Alice.

"Well, we'll have to fix that then won't we?" She asks and looks over at Rosalie.

"What? No, no we are not giving her my clothes. No way." I can see that Alice is about to argue so I pull out the big guns, a trick that I learned from Rachel. I crawl over to Rosalie, whining along the way, and stare up at her, making my eyes as big as possible. She sighs and looks away. All the boys, excluding Edward naturally, snicker.

"Shut up guys, you didn't see the looks she gave me. Emmett, go get some clothes for Bella." Rosalie says grumbling. Before glancing at me with a small smile. Emmett leaves followed by Jasper and Edward. "That was unfair, Bella. That gives a whole new meaning to puppy dog look." I smile at her before going back over to Alice.

Alice looks at me curiously, and I shake my head, she will know when I need something. Evil aren't I? Anyway, it wasn't long before Emmett came back with something for me to wear. I quickly phased back and put on the clothes. When I stepped out from behind the tree I was changing behind, I noticed Alice eyeing me up and down, and I couldn't stop the blush from appearing on my cheeks. Clearing my throat, I look at anything but her, Rosalie, and Emmett, who is shaking with laughter.

"We really need to buy you some new clothes." Alice mumbles. Hey, my clothes are just fine, thank you.

"And what, pray tell, is wrong with my usual attire?" I ask, placing my hands on my hips. Emmett bursts out laughing not able to contain himself anymore, apparently. I shoot him my world famous "Bella Glare" and he shuts up immediately, I don't miss the impressed expression on Rosalie's face either. I turn back to Alice and cock an eyebrow, waiting; impatiently I might add, for an answer. Finally, Alice meets my gaze and smiles breathtakingly.

"Nothing, Rosalie's clothes just happen to look, well, sexy, on you." She says simply and I can't help it, my jaw drops and I can't function properly enough to glare at Emmett again for laughing. Alice giggles and she walks over to me, and like she did when we first met, closes my jaw gently. I shake my head and turn away, attempting, and failing to hide my blush. "Come on, I'm sure Esme and Carlisle know you are here by now and are waiting for us. In fact," she pauses and a glazed look covers her eyes, but then she goes back to normal, "if we don't leave now, Esme is going to come looking for us, and that won't be good." She loops her arm through mine and leads me towards their home. Along the way, she makes simple conversation.

"Where did you go, Bella?" Alice asks looking up at me.

"Oh, um well, Pennsylvania. Lots of room and woods to run around in." I say shrugging.

"How's your friend, learn anything from him?" She asks simply, but there was something I couldn't distinguish in her tone.

"Um, yeah she's great, and I learned a lot. Rachel was there when I first changed. She stayed with me until I was able to handle the whole phasing and temper process on my own. She was the only friend I had." I stop and look at Alice, a gentle smile forming. "Until I met you guys that is. Vampires being my best friends." I laugh and shake my head. "You should have seen Rachel when I told her that one. She about had a cow, kept going off on how could I be so stupid and if I knew what the consequences were of hanging out with you were. Then I started talking about you guys and…" I stop, not wanting to reveal to Alice what had been revealed to me.

"And what?" Alice asks gently. I had to think of something quick.

"And the neighboring wolf pack and she got real serious." I glance over at Alice and I can see she doesn't believe me but I press on. "She says that at first, it was about the whole territory thing, apparently packs are really picky about that. But then she said that it would escalate. She asked me if I was going to stay in Forks for a while." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Alice look up at me hopefully. "And I told her that I had made a promise that I would come back, so yes, I was planning to stay in Forks for a while." I pause slightly when I hear her sigh of relief. "This is the bad news part. Sam is going to want me to join his pack, he can't have a rogue wolf running around on his land, now can we? Rachel says that he will do whatever it takes, especially since I'm an alpha wolf myself."

"What does that mean, you guys going to have puppies or something?" I cringe, that was not a picture I needed in my head. I poke her in the side, hard enough so that she jumps a little.

"Good God, no. Look, I don't know how much you know of wolves in general, but I am massive for a werewolf, especially a female one. Being bigger makes it known to others that I am an alpha, the leader. If I were to join Sam's pack, he would have the complete pack. Probably the most powerful one, considering how many wolves he has in the first place."

"So why aren't you in his pack in the first place, what stopped him from making you be a part of it when you guys fought in the woods that day?" Alice asks confusion marring her features. I sigh.

"Well, first he would have to fight me and make me submit. But I already have a pack, so I would have to leave that one first to join his, and I don't plan on doing that anytime soon." I say seriously.

"Who is it?" Well, crap.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured you wouldn't be upset if I added another this evening. Again, sorry if it's not a....smooth read. (The second to last chapter is killing me because I don't know how to make it nice and neat and pretty DX)

CH6

Alice stares up at me expectantly and all I can do is stare back, frantically thinking of something else to say. Luckily I am saved when Esme comes out of her house that we had reached moments earlier. Quickly I turn towards her, ignoring Alice's question entirely. I can see her frown out of the corner of my eye, but I still don't turn around.

"Bella, it is so good to see you, dear," Esme says with a warm smile before giving me a hug. "How have you been, are you hungry, can I get you something to drink?" I laugh at her rushed questions.

"I'm fine, Esme, really. Thank you though." I say sincerely and she pulls me in for another hug. I look up and find Carlisle standing in the doorway staring fondly at his mate. Yes, another thing I learned is that vampires have soul or life-mates. It could take vampire centuries to find them, but once they did, nothing separated them except for death. (Be happy that I gave you the short version.)

"It's good to see you, Bella, are you well?" Carlisle asks softly from the doorway. I smile at him and nod. I think it is safe to say that I have missed everyone, even if I did know them for only a short while. Well, everyone except for sex hair, but even then it felt weird because I couldn't feel someone glaring at me constantly.

I feel Esme come up behind me and gently lead me into the house. I look behind her to see Alice still scowling at me. Esme leads me to the living room and sits me down on the couch. Alice sits to my right, grasping my hand in hers, and Emmett sits to my left, Rosalie in his lap. Carlisle and Esme sit on the love seat, Esme tucking herself into Carlisle side. A sharp ache in my chest appears, but I shove it away. Jasper takes the recliner and Edward moves his broody self to lean against the doorframe. For a while, they all stare at me, making me rather uncomfortable. I clear my throat and look down at the floor. I hear Carlisle chuckle.

"How was your trip? Did you learn what you wanted to learn?" Carlisle asks, smiling gently and I relax.

"Yeah, now I have some new techniques on how to fight the wolves. Shouldn't be a problem now." I say confidently, and glance at Edward when he snorts, a cocky smile on his lips.

"It was never a problem in the first place. We could handle them, what could a bunch of mutts do?" He asks lifting an eyebrow. I ignore Esme's quiet admonishment and lean forward slightly, looking him straight in the eye.

"Look, I know you guys can handle yourselves, but we are built to be able to kill you. One on one, sure you could kick our asses, well not mine, but that is beside the point. There is a reason we travel in packs. All it would take is for two wolves to face against you." He goes to interrupt but I speak first. "It doesn't matter that you can read minds; a wolf can hear all the thoughts of those in his pack. Could you dodge two different attacks? All it would take would for one of you to go down."

"I'd like to see them take me down." Emmett interrupts, his voice booming throughout the house. I turn and look at him calmly.

"I'll admit you would be tough," here he smiles broadly, "but what happens if Rosalie gets hurt?" I smile apologetically at Rosalie but I see the smile disappear off of Emmett's face. "You would do everything you could to get to her and save her," I smile sadly at them, "but it wouldn't matter she would be torn apart and in your attempt to save her, you would be torn apart as well. The rest would fall into place, more wolves could face each vampire then, and all of you would be too distracted trying to help one another." I turn to face Alice. "And, if I'm correct, your gift doesn't work on them does it?" She stares at me, surprised, for a moment before grinning and nodding. I look back at Edward. "I admit, it is because of me that they broke the treaty, but I'm going to take a guess that, eventually, Sam would have broken it anyway. So, for this, I apologize. But I hope that I can help because it won't be long before Sam figures out that I am back." I look at Alice when she tugs gently at my hand.

"Tell them what you told me, about what Sam wants." I sigh and nod.

"Rachel, my friend that I told you about, has seen wolves like Sam before. She told me that he wants more power, he always will, but that he knows that I am an alpha wolf, and wants me to join his pack. If I were to do that he would have one of, if not the most, powerful packs. I have more fighting experience and he would have me teach them. Ultimately, he could wipe out all of the vampires; well at least until the Volturi stepped in then I would be slaughtered."

"Bella," Jasper starts, "we aren't the only coven. There are more of us."

"I know," I say, "and even if they could get here in time to help you out there isn't any guarantee that Sam wouldn't get more followers himself. You aren't alone, and neither is he.

"But like I told Alice, he would have to fight me and make me submit first. Technically, only he is supposed to fight me, but Sam doesn't seem the type to play by the rules. Well, that is what he would have to do if I didn't already have a pack, anyways. But, because I have one, I would have to leave that one--or kill everyone in it--and then he would have to make me submit, but I kind of like the one I have now, so I don't see me leaving in the immediate future." I finish, my words rushed.

"If you already have a pack, why aren't you with them? I mean, I like having you here, but don't you miss them?" Jasper asks quietly from where he is sitting. I smile at him.

"I did terribly, but now that I have come back, I'm okay."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rah hah, I'm back!
> 
> Thank ya for all the kudos, they mean a lot ^-^
> 
> I swear, though, I'm going back and reading what I've written and it's making me cringe, ugh. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!! :D Also, sorry, I know it's short.

CH7

I waited for their response, rather anxiously. I could see the grin appearing on Alice and Jasper's lips, although Jaspers was smaller. The frown that Edward wore deepened, impressive really. I could see Esme smiling brightly, and Carlisle wore a small smile. I look over to Rosalie and Emmett, while Rosalie looked somewhat relieved, Emmett looked confused. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped, and poor Emmett looked even more confused.

"Wait, do you mean that we are your pack?" A big smile splits his face when I nod. "Awesome! I have a werewolf as a sister." He pauses, "wait, this does make you my sister, right?" I laugh again and nod. "Awesome!"

"So it is settled then." Esme speaks as she gets up from her spot beside Carlisle. "You are going to live with us," Esme says wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "Now you can get rid of that apartment. Of course, that is, if you want to stay with us." She says somewhat sadly as if she is afraid that I would say no, silly woman.

"I would love to live with you guys," I pause and turn to Rosalie, "if you want me here," I smile shyly at her and she just rolls her eyes and nods, a tiny smile playing at her lips. I smile back at her, grateful. The smile falls immediately off of my face when Edward decides to open his big, fat, moment-ruining mouth.

"I don't know, I mean, come on, she is a—"he is cut off abruptly by three sets of growling and three glares.

I chuckle at his expense when a sudden, rather scary thought hits me. "Um, where am I going to be sleeping, I vote that I get the couch," I say hopefully.

"Don't be silly, dear, you can stay with Alice until we get things arranged for you." Esme says, and I can see the smirk and grins of the Cullen "kids". To my utter horror, Alice is bouncing up and down in what, I presume, is excitement, if her bright smile is anything to go by.

"This is going to be so much fun; we can do all sorts of stuff together. First, we have to go shopping and get you some clothes, because, frankly Bella, you have awful taste. But that will change." Alice chirps and I flinch. She is so mistaken if she thinks I'm going to play Bella-Barbie.

"No way, Alice, I will go shopping by myself, and buy my own stuff," I say and the hurt and disappointed look on her face makes me die a little on the inside. "But, I guess, we can go sometimes," I relent, "but only to shop for you." I mumble and I can hear everybody's laughter and Emmett's quietly whispered "whipped" comment. I turn so that I face him. "Excuse you. I do believe that you are every bit as much, if not more, 'whipped' than I am." I didn't mean to admit that I was whipped… that was a conversation for a different time. Luckily, Rosalie comes to my aid.

"She's right babe. So keep your mouth shut if you want to get lucky anytime soon." She says patting Emmett on the cheek. I smile my thanks and she smirks, an ill omen I'm positive, but Alice drags me off to her room and pulls me down next to her on the bed before I find out the meaning behind Rosalie's evil smile. 

We lay there a moment before she speaks.

"So, what else did you learn about?"

"Oh, um, stuff about vampires, quite a bit actually. I learned that you guys get mates and stuff. It was pretty easy to understand because us werewolves have, basically, the same thing." I say shrugging.

"Really, what's it like?" Alice asks curiously, whilst grabbing my hand.

I shrug, "we call it imprinting. It is where you find the one person in the whole world that keeps you anchored. They mean everything. You can't fall in love with anyone else, and it sucks, because if you loved someone but then find your imprint, sure you'll feel guilty, but you leave them, almost immediately." My face scrunches up, "I find it kind of weird, too, that we can fall in love with a baby." I shake my head and look over at Alice, who is staring at me intently. "What's it like, having a mate I mean?" I ask.

"Personally, I don't know," Alice says sighing and looking at me funny. "But Rosalie and Esme swear up and down it is the best feeling in the world. Knowing that you are loved, and will always be loved, unconditionally, for the rest of eternity. They become your whole world, other people matter, sure, but if it came down to it, everything else would be abandoned by the wayside, for your mate." She finishes, looking away sadly. "What about you and Rachel?" I cough in surprise, she thought we were imprints? I love Rachel, but no.

"Ah, I and, er, Rachel aren't imprinted, Alice. Just good friends." I say and I see the look of relief flash across her features and I grin. "Alice, are you jealous?"

"What, no, I was afraid that she was going to take my best friend from me," Alice says indignantly. I chuckle and lean forward.

"I mean, it's okay if you are, I mean, it's kinda hot," I say, my eyes jumping between her eyes and lips. She notices and a smirk adorns her features.

"Yeah? Well, you better tell Rachel to watch out, cause I am very territorial, even by vampire standards, and I don't like sharing." Alice's voice is sultry and a shiver runs through me.

"I'll make sure to tell her," I say and I briefly notice that our lips are only inches apart. I move closer, our lips about to touch… when the door to Alice's room bursts open. We both pull back immediately, and if looks could kill, Emmett would have been dead twice over. My face feels hot and I'm sure I'm red enough to rival any tomato.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He laughs when Alice and I growl at him. "Anyway, Rosalie wants to talk to Bella," Emmett says. "But if you guys want to continue I can—"I cut him off by jumping off of Alice's bed and covering his mouth with my hand.

"Tell her I'll be there shortly." And with that, I shove him out the door. I turn around to find Alice glaring at the wall. I chuckle lowly and move towards her.

"I better go see what Rosalie wants. Maybe after I get back, we can, uh, continue our conversation?" I ask and Alice's eyes light up and a grin pulls at her features.

"I would like that, very much." She says and I turn away and head for the door, but pause when she speaks again. "You should tell Rosalie what I said, too." I stare at her and she giggles. "We vampires don't like it when our best friend time is… interrupted." I stare at her a moment before she giggles again, gets up off the bed, and pushes me out of her room. I hear her voice call out as I walk down the stairs. "Oh, and if Emmett gives you any trouble, just let me know." I laugh and continue down the stairs, only to find a wide-eyed Emmett sitting in the recliner, Xbox controller sitting in his lap.

"My, Emmett, what could possibly be the matter?" I ask innocently, and Jasper chuckles and looks up from the book he is reading.

"Alice has some blackmail on Emmett that Rosalie doesn't know about… actually, none of us know what it is. But, as you can see, it must be good if it can make Emmett shut up for more than 30 seconds." Jasper says thoughtfully. "Oh, and Rosalie is waiting for you out in the woods, says don't make her wait forever." I give him my thanks and say goodbye to him and a still silent Emmett and head out the door to see what Rosalie could possibly want.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Rosalie and Bella for this chapter. Rosalie is a bitch, but she's a loving, protective bitch so there's that.
> 
> What's this?? Two chapters! The end is nigh! NIGH!!!
> 
> I am pulling these from inkitt cause I'm pretty sure I edited them even more over there than I did on fanfiction....and because I don't have the stories on this computer....they're kinda spread out all over the place--my organization skills on display ladies and gents--so ehh.

CH8

I look around the Cullens' yard, trying to spot the blonde beauty that interrupted "best friend time." I spot her in a tree not too far away, but far enough that we won't be overheard. I walk over the tree and playfully hit her foot, which she is lazily swinging. She grins down at me and pats the spot next to her on the branch she is sitting on.

"Dogs don't climb trees, Rosalie. You should know that." I say and she chuckles quietly before patting it again. I roll my eyes and make my way up to her.

She doesn't say anything for a few minutes and I'm ready to ask her if everything is okay, when she turns to me and looks at me searchingly. "You aren't telling us something." I cringe and look away. "I don't want to pressure you, Bella, but we don't keep things from each other in this family." I nod but continue not looking at her. "Bella," she says softly and grabs my chin in her cold hand, "nothing is so awful that you can't tell us." I snort but smile softly. A werewolf has imprinted on a vampire, yeah, it won't fly over well with the supernatural world… especially Sam. "Bella?"

"I have… uh, well, imprinted on, er, Alice." I say, my voice trailing off. Rosalie doesn't respond and I look over at her, thinking that I have done something wrong by imprinting on her. Instead, she is wearing a big (can you believe it?) smile.

"Um, Rosalie, are we okay?" I ask smiling nervously. Instead of replying, well in a verbal sense, she wraps her arms around me in a hug. So surprised am I, that I kind of jump, such a bad ass werewolf I know. The jump is enough, however, that I throw us both off balance and we fall. Out of the tree. Onto the hard ground.

We hit the ground, Rosalie on top of me and I can't help the groan that attempts to escape my lips. Why attempt? Well because, unlike my frozen friends, I do need air and landing on the ground from a branch that was, roughly, nine feet in the air with an extra body just happened to knock the wind out of me.

I feel Rosalie roll off of me and she is asking me if I am alright, but I am too busy rolling on the ground looking for air to answer her. Apparently, Rosalie has never encountered someone who has had the wind knocked out of them because she is kneeling beside me, calling my name rather worriedly.

"Bella, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Oh, God. Alice is going to murder me." She says and I can't stop the silent laughter anymore. After a minute, I am able to catch my breath, but I don't because I am laughing too hard. "Bella? God damn it, Bella, I thought something was wrong. Why didn't you say anything?" Rosalie asks, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

I suck in big gulps of air, trying to calm myself down. "Because I couldn't you idiot." She raises an eyebrow at my name calling. "Have you really never seen someone have the wind knocked out of them? They can't breathe for a little bit. And because we fell out of the tree, and because you so graciously fell on me, I happened to get my breath knocked out. So, sorry for not responding." I say finally picking myself up from the ground. She smiles sheepishly before frowning.

"It's your damn fault we fell out of the tree in the first place."

"You hugged me. Are you telling me that you actually do that all the time and that I shouldn't be surprised?"

"Yeah, well." I roll my eyes at her response.

"What was that about anyway?"

"Oh, um. I am, uh happy?" I raise my eyebrows at her asked statement. "Alice hasn't had anyone before. And we all really like you, that is a real bonus. And we can all see how happy you make Alice… and you are happy with her, and that makes me happy." She sighs.

"Well, not everyone likes me." She turns and looks at me questioningly. "Sex-hair." She looks confused before realization dawns on her.

"Oh, you mean Edward." She laughs. "That's good, Emmett will like that one. Anyway, don't mind him."

"But why doesn't he like me? I don't really care, but it does get kind of old when I can feel him glaring at me from across the room."

"He doesn't like the fact that you block him from reading your mind. That has never happened before, and trust me when I tell you that we are all envious. He also doesn't like the fact that you just kind of showed up and we accepted you as a part of the family." She chuckles. "The fact that you are a wolf and doubt his fighting ability doesn't exactly help either."

"I don't doubt them—" she holds up a hand and I stop.

"We all know that, but Edward seems to think that you do." She sighs and shakes her head slightly. "Edward isn't that bad, really he isn't. He is my brother and I love him, but he can get to be a little… intense. You'll see, once he comes around."

"It's a good thing I live forever then, huh?" She laughs but looks at me strangely. "Oh, um, I don't age like other werewolves. I'm stuck at nineteen. Now that I think about it, it wouldn't matter anyway, since I'll be living with you guys." She nods and gestures for us to go back to the house. She loops an arm through mine, much to my surprise, but I take it happily.

"When do you suppose Sam will find out you're here?"

"I give it less than a week… a week if we are lucky."

"You know that we have your back, right? We always will." I smile softly at her.

"Yeah, I know, but I feel bad." She looks at me, confused. "I have a feeling that there are more wolves than I originally thought, why else would he wait this long? This could get really bad. I don't—" my voice gives out when it hits me that I could very well lose a family member. I clear my throat and continue. "I don't want you guys to get hurt just because he wants the ultimate pack." I feel Rosalie squeeze my arm.

"We will be fine, Bella, I promise." She smiles reassuringly at me, and I smile weakly in return. We reach the house and I turn to face her.

"I hope so," I say, pulling her into a hug, I can't stop the thought. I certainly hope so.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, my friends.... *sigh*
> 
> That's really all I've got, sowwy. Hope ya enjoy. Love ya guys lots.
> 
> Thanks for the comments and kudos (you my favorites).

CH9

I leave Rosalie sitting next to Emmett, who is surprisingly quiet and is glancing at me every so often. Whatever Alice has on him must be pretty damn good. I wink at him and head up the stairs to continue what was rudely interrupted earlier.

I continue down the hall until I reach the door that opens up to Alice's room. When I open the door the smile that had pulling at my lips disappears. The little pixie is nowhere to be found.

"Alice? Huh, I wonder whe—" I am cut off when something slams itself against my back. We hit the ground--why must they hurt me--and I can't prevent the grunt that escapes… it didn't hurt, it was a grunt of surprise, I swear. I turn over and see Alice on the ground laughing. I sit up and glare at her. She notices and stops.

"What the hell, Alice? Is that a customary thing you guys do, land on new family members?" I ask but she continues to laugh.

"No, only the hot ones." She says smirking at me, I open my mouth to respond when her words' meaning hits me. I blush and look away. "Aw, come on, Bella. I wanted to surprise you." I snort at her words, but I can't help the smile tugging at my lips. She giggles one more time before sitting up and scooting to sit next to me.

"What did Rosalie want to talk about?" She asks seriously but a smile manages to break through.

"What are you smiling about?" She just smiles knowingly at me and shakes her head. I frown at her and she only giggles.

"I asked you first." I sigh and lean against the bed.

"She wanted to know if I was hiding anything from you guys," I say picking at my nails.

"Are you?" She asks and the bluntness of her questions startles me. I shake my head no and clear my throat.

"No. Not really." I sigh, throwing my hands into my lap. "It isn't really anything that is too important." I lie through my teeth, if I were to be honest, my imprinting on Alice is the most important thing to me (I mean, duh). "There are some concerns that I didn't share, but…"

"What are they? I want to know, Bella. I'll always want to know." I sigh again at the concern and kindness in her tone. I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them feeling oddly embarrassed.

"I'm not confident we can win if we start to fight. I had originally thought that there were seven werewolves… but when I ran into them, I don't know, I feel like there might be more. I don't like those odds, Alice." I pause and take a shaky breath, not used to these feelings and certainly not used to sharing them. "I'm scared. I'm scared because I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially not because of me." I admit leaning my head against my arms. A cold arm wraps itself around my shoulders and another takes my right hand in its own.

"Bella, I promise that we will all be fine. We can take care of ourselves, and we have you here now. They shouldn't be a problem." She says and I look up to see a reassuring smile on her face.

"I don't know Alice," I say, not able to keep my thoughts to myself, "I will be distracted trying to make sure everyone is alright. I don't even know how many there are, and I don't like being in the dark" I say leaning heavily into her embrace. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of them. My first real family and they are going, essentially, to war because of me. This has been plaguing me since I first encountered Sam's pack. Training with Rachel did help, but that can only help so much.

"Bella, look at me." She grabs my chin and locks her gaze with mine. "No one will die, we might get hurt a little but I promise that we won't die. If there are more, we have friends in Alaska that would be willing to help." I stare deeply into her eyes and see that she believes her own words, and maybe that's enough. I exhale deeply and a weight that was on my shoulder seems to have lessened. I smile weakly at her.

"You are really good at making someone feel better."

"It is because I am, naturally, a very happy, bubbly person."

"I am very grateful. I want you to know that." I whisper and lean closer to her so that only a few meager inches is the only thing separating us.

"You're welcome. I'm always happy to help." She breathes and glances down at my lips quickly before looking me in the eyes again. I reach up and cup her jaw, running my thumb over her cheekbone.

"I missed you, Alice. I know I had only known you for a day, but it feels like forever." I say moving even closer.

"I feel the same way." She barely even whispers before she closes the distance.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's written. I'm just lazy and busy... a rather even mixture of both really.
> 
> Love ya.

CH10

Oh. My. God. Kissing Alice Cullen is the best feeling in the whole world. Hands down. One-hundred percent.

I press harder against her lips and tangle one hand in her hair. I feel her smile and I can't help my own from reaching my lips. After a moment I feel the burning sensation coming from my chest… right, I need air. I pull back but leave my eyes closed and rest my forehead against hers. I feel her hand cupping my cheek as she rubs a thumb gently across my cheek. I open my eyes to see her golden orbs looking into me. I smile gently and she returns it. I lean in and kiss her gently once more.

"I'm happy that we weren't interrupted this time," I say and she laughs.

"Me, too."

"Cause, you probably would have a dead sibling." She laughs again and shakes her head.

"Esme would be so upset." She whispers.

"She'd get over it," I growl and pull her in for another kiss. She chuckles but doesn't resist. Just as I am about to run out of air again (trust me, death is an okay consequence for kissing Alice too long, what a way to go), she pulls away. And because I am pitiful, I whimper at the loss of contact. She laughs at me again and I grumble. "You shouldn't laugh at me." She arches an eyebrow at me. "If you do, I shall have to take necessary actions." She snorts.

"Yeah, like what?" I smirk.

"You'll find out…eventually." I laugh when she pouts and press a kiss to her nose.

"That isn't fair, Bella."

"Don't laugh at me and you won't have to find out." I pause and for some reason, Emmett pops into my head. "Speaking of not finding out, what do you have on Emmett? Cause I really want to know." She starts to laugh really hard, like, doubled over laughing.

"Nope, I promised Emmett that I wouldn't tell anyone. And that includes my girlfriend." She says and I can't stop my jaw from dropping and my eyebrows getting lost in my hairline.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I get it." I say blushing and looking away.

"Bella, what's wrong?" She pauses and it seems to dawn on her because she looks away. "I mean, you don't have to be my girlfriend if you don't want to, I just thought that…" she trails off and I chuckle lowly.

"Oh, I definitely want to be, I just was… surprised is all, I've never had any friends, besides Rachel, let alone a significant other." I feel her eyes on my and I look into her golden eyes, and I can see the joy in them as well as love. "Now what are we going to do about school?" I ask leaning my head back, but when I get no response I look at Alice. She is looking away from me, but I can see the slump in her shoulders.

"Hey. What's wrong? We don't have to tell everyone, I'm okay with that." I say even though I'm really not. She looks up at me, and I can see the hope in her eyes.

"Nothing is wrong, I just wasn't sure that you would want everyone at school to know." She asks not meeting my eyes so I tilt her face up so that she is looking at me.

"I want everyone to know. That way no one will try and take you away from me. And so that I can do this in public." I whisper before I lean in and kiss her gently.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what! This story is now finished!! Done! Woot!! I have one more chapter to look over (I could use some help, the ending is giving me grief -_-) but it's all typed out. YAY!!!
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments guys, they mean a lot :3
> 
> Enjoy!

CH11

Well, I was correct about the wolves finding out about me returning… just not in the way I imagined. You see, Carlisle and Esme made me return to school, and while that wasn't so bad, I mean I've been to school before; I was the talk of the town again. Apparently loads of rumors had been circling some that were more realistic than others. Some said that Rosalie had chased me away, that one was one of the most accurate ones, that I had beat some kids up and had to leave town etcetera, etcetera. So the bad thing was that since I was the talk of the town the Quileutes had heard, from Mike no less, when some students had gone down to the beach. Alice nearly ripped him limb from limb… that was a great day. 

In any case, we found out because the night Mike told them there was a lot more howling and growling. Well, that, and the fact that Mike was talking about how one of them had picked him up with one hand and demanded to know if I really was back and not just kidding around.

Now it's only a matter of time before Sam's patience runs out or Sam comes up with a strategy to wipe us out… I'm voting for Sam's patience running out--he doesn't really seem to be the scheming type. Since the night they found out I'm back we decided to start training. Today is the first lesson. One I'm sure will frustrate Emmett to no end and I am so totally looking forward to it.

"What are you chuckling at?" Alice asks from beside me, looking up from her book. I glance at her and shake my head.

"Nothing, love, just about later today," I say turning my gaze away from her and focus, instead, on the ceiling. I hear her book shut and the bed shift. Soon, she is leaning over me.

"And what, my dear, are you planning today? How to choke you out, escape from a bite?" I smile at her and lay back further into the pillows.

"Nope. Basics first, love, always the basics." I say. That is what Rachel taught me, you start with the basics. You can't make a five-course dinner without learning how to boil water first (trust me, Alice tried.) I'm thinking about showing them how quick and agile we are. I know that vampires are quick, but they are like granite. I move more fluidly.

"Bella, come back to me," Alice says smiling while resting her chin on my chest.

"Sorry, Alice, just thinking is all," I say apologetically. She just shakes her head until a sultry smile graces her lips.

"I bet I could give you something better to do." She breathes, inching forward. I can feel my own smirk making its way onto my face.

"Yeah? Like what?" I ask leaning forward slightly. Her smile widens and she moves close enough so that our lips are only centimeters apart.

"Why don't I show you." She whispers before leaning forward and sealing our lips together. I wrap my arms around her and pull her further onto me. I sigh into the kiss; it's been a while since we've had time alone… apparently being gone for three months makes for a lot of make-up work. I pull her tighter against me and nip her lip before moving to her neck. Her cold body on mine only adds to the intensity of the fire running through my veins. I kiss along her jaw and down to where her neck and shoulders join and bite down… hard. I hear her gasp and I can't help the smile that reaches my lips. I lick the spot and move to the left, kissing across her collar bone. I can feel her hands roaming my body, coming dangerously close to my most sensitive areas. She toys with the hem of my shirt and more fire runs through me. We have never gotten this far, believe it or not. We've just had some really hot, and I do mean hot just ask Emmett, make out sessions. When her cool hand brushes my stomach, something snaps in me and before I can stop myself, I bite her right shoulder and flip us so that she is below me. If her gasp and pants are anything to go by, she is just as surprised as I am.

I kiss her shoulder and move back up to her mouth. I kiss her lips hungrily and swipe my tongue along her lower lip, begging for entrance. I feel her smile before eagerly opening her mouth and allowing my tongue access to her cool mouth. I feel her hand creep slightly higher on my stomach before she ceases all movement. I pull away immediately and cup her cheek with my hand that had, previously, been resting on her hip and moving north.

"Alice? What's wrong?" I ask almost desperately, praying that she wasn't having a vision. Talk about killing the mood. My worry is lifted, though, when I look into her eyes and see that they are wide and focused on my stomach, no distant look at all. "Alice?" I ask quietly and her gaze shoots up and locks with mine. In the blink of an eye, she has flipped us and she is scooting down my frame. She pulls my shirt up just below my breasts and continues to stare at my stomach. "Alice, what the hell?" I sit up and look at her, and I don't think I've seen a sexier look. She is staring hungrily at my stomach.

"Bella," she pauses and swallows, "you have a belly-button ring." I laugh at her; she looks so close to drooling.

"Yeah, I do, now can you get back to distracting me," I say and she looks into my eyes. I was wrong; the look she is giving me now is the sexiest look I have ever seen. It's a mix between lust, hunger, and a predatory stare. She grins at me and leans down and starts to kiss my stomach. She starts at my hip bone and moves across to my belly-button. Gently, she tugs at the ring and I can't help the moan that escapes my lips. She looks at me again and releases the ring only to start kissing up the expanse of my stomach. She reaches my shirt and glances at me I nod and swallow. She smiles and, slowly, starts to remove my shirt. She finally gets it off and throws it across the room. When she looks back down her eyebrow furrows and she frowns.

"Why in the hell do you wear these things?" She demands and I laugh.

"I'm not about to train in a nice lace bra, Alice, a sports bra is really the best option."

"God damn things aren't as easy to get off. Do you even own a lace bra?" She asks playing with the edges, annoyance in her voice. I lean forward and kiss the corner of her mouth.

"You'll just have to find out, won't you?" I whisper in her ear and I hear her growl in response.

"I will count on it." She says kissing me hungrily. I feel her grasp my bra and start to pull it up when our bedroom door opens.

"Alright you two, knock it off. Carlisle says it's time to start." Rosalie says not even blinking at our current position. We don't move for a couple of moments and she sighs. "Do I have to dress you myself? I'm not leaving until you both are dressed and out the door." I hear Alice growl and she glares at Rosalie but I cup her cheek.

"Come on, love, maybe we can continue this later." She responds by getting off of me and throwing me my shirt. She hisses at Rosalie as she passes her to put on her "training" clothes. After a few minutes, we are all dressed and ready to go.

"Oh thank God. You are finally ready. Let's go." Rosalie says and I can hear the smile in her voice, the bitch.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yup
> 
> I am not fond of this chapter...I don't know why

CH12

I chuckle when I hear the growl from Alice. I kiss her tenderly once more before moving towards the door. I look behind me to see that Alice hasn’t moved an inch. I cock my head at her and she smiles.

“Just enjoying the view is all.” She says standing and moving towards me. “Now, come on, I want to watch you kick their asses.” She finishes with a bright smile and I can’t help but laugh.

“You do know that includes your ass right?” I say moving out the door and down the stairs.

“Hah, you wouldn’t dare.” She scoffs and I just wink at her over my shoulder. If believes that I wouldn’t prepare her for what is to come and risk her and her family getting hurt, she is sorely mistaken. But I just shake my head and continue my way outside to their enormous backyard.

When we arrive, everyone is already out there and ready to go. I glance at their clothing and nod in approval, no one is wearing designer anything… I would feel so guilty when I ruined them.

“Hey, Belly-button, took you long enough. Rosalie didn’t interrupt anything did she?”

“Shut up, Emmett,” I say and he smirks at my lack of a comeback. I take a look at the people around me... my family. All are looking at me with smiles on their faces, well except for Edward, but is anyone really shocked by that? I take a deep breath and turn serious… something that I actually am capable of doing, thank you very much.

“Now, who wants to go first?”

“Me, Belly-button, prepare to have your ass royally handed to you.” Emmett, says. Shocking. Emmett stands up and moves towards me, rolling his shoulders and jumping in place.

“Question. Why do you jump… it’s not like you have any blood?” He just shakes his head.

“Quit avoiding the inevitable.”

“You know what inevitable means? I’m shocked. Now come on, come after me.” I say and widen my stance, putting my left foot slightly behind my right.

“Um, Bella, are you sure?”

“Scared, Emmett?” I laugh and he just shrugs.

“Your funeral.” With that, he runs towards me, going not even close to the speed I know he can. When he is only a few feet away, I launch myself into the air and over his back. I turn and face him. Emmett is staring at me like I have tentacles as limbs.

“Come on Emmett, you can’t even beat me in my human form? You are certainly a sad excuse for a vampire.” I turn and look at Rosalie is fighting a smile. “Rosalie, you certainly don’t pick them on their fighting ability, do you?” I hear Emmett growl and move towards me. I glance at him, he is certainly moving faster than last time, but it doesn’t concern me at all. Emmett is all brawn, no brain. When he is about ten feet away, I start running towards him. Right before we hit each other, I drop to the ground and slide in between his legs. I hear him growl, much louder this time and I think I am starting to piss him off. I hear him, rather than see him, running at me. I jump up and immediately do a back flip, and just barely manage to dodge Emmett’s outstretched arms. Before Emmett attacks again, I put a hand on his chest preventing him from coming after me again. I can feel the growl emitting from him.

“Emmett, look. When fighting a wolf, one on one at least, we tend to be more defensive. You also have to understand that we can’t take hits like you can. We will break. We still have bones that break, organs that can rupture, blood pumping through our veins.” I pause when hurt flashes through his eyes. “I don’t mean it...it just means we can die that much easier than you can. It also means that we are more flexible. Vampires rely on speed and strength. We rely on speed, flexibility, and our acrobatic prowess. We are strong, yes, but against you, that isn’t enough, our size helps, too.”

I smile and reach up and pat his cheek. “Now that I’ve told you how much more awesome I am than you, I will tell you that if you get ahold of us, we are screwed. Now, let’s try again, and please don’t kill me. Who else would teach you? Alice and Rachel would not be very pleased either.” I move back and when I nod he doesn’t rush me, instead, he circles me. Huh, the boy can think, who knew?

Finally, he stops and he runs towards me again, I run for him and slide again. I can see the light in his eyes and I know that he thinks that he has me this time. Right before we collide I jump up off the ground, onto his back, and springboard off of him. “Don’t ever think that you know what we are going to do. In a tight situation, we will think of anything to use. You did good Emmett; let’s see how your family does.” I hug Emmett and he hugs me back, lifting me up off the ground and squeezing me until I can’t breathe. Eventually, he lets me go and I face the rest of the family. I point at Jasper and wave him over.

“Now, Jasper, you’ve had some military experience, correct?” He nods and I smile. “Fantastic, I think we’ll start off with me staying like this then,” I say gesturing to my body. He frowns and I pat his shoulder. “You won’t do much harm, Jasper.” He nods, but the frown doesn’t leave. “You, my good man, are at an advantage. Wolves tend to act on instinct, just like newborns. But, unlike newborns, they will learn and improvise… well, at least the smart ones will and since we are facing the ones down on the reservation, we might just be in luck that they won’t learn anything at all!” I clear my throat in hopes of pushing away the verbal diarrhea I’m experiencing and continue, “Anyway, like I said, our reflexes are better, but if you can move them into a position that they can’t escape, which I believe that you can, then you will be better off. Now let’s try, I’ll do what they’ll do.”

I back off and study him for a moment, letting my wolf take over, but not shifting. I rush him and attempt to take out his legs but he jumps and avoids me. I stand back up and move in. I lash out, trying to punch him in the face, yeah I know not my smartest move but I blame the wolf, but he blocks it and grabs my arm and starts to twist. I flip backward, but he doesn’t lose his grip on my arm like I thought he would, so I swing with my left hand and try to hit him, but he catches that arm, too. We now stand facing each other. I kick up, putting my feet on his chest and kick as hard as I can. He loses his grip and we both go backward.

This happens for a good twenty minutes, him trapping me, but me escaping. Every once in a while, I throw some advice in, and I can tell that Jasper takes it to heart because it is taking me more and more to escape him. That is until finally, he has both arms behind my back, my legs pinned so I can’t move them without tripping, and his teeth at my throat. After a moment of staying like this, he releases me and steps back. I can’t help the smile that is playing at my lips. If I can get everyone to be able to do that, we actually might get through this without any injuries at all.

“Hey now, Jasper, you damn well know how to fight. At least now I know that you didn’t charm your way up the ranks.” I wink and smile at him and I can see a grin on his face as well.

“Well, maybe just a little bit of charm, but it was mostly because I fought well. If you can do all of that in human form, I am anxious to see how you do in wolf form. Thank you for teaching me, Bella, it will certainly be useful.” He finishes with a bow and a wink before he turns and sits with the rest of the family.

I go through everyone else, their abilities to fight varying, but they all have their own techniques, and all work in their own way. Rosalie is quick, she goes in lands a few hits and punches and moves back out, always varying what she does. Carlisle is more defensive. He waits for you to attack and then uses your own weight and momentum against you. More than once I had ended up off balance. He uses it until finally, he finds a way to end it… well, to make it so that they can’t fight anymore. Esme surprised me. She is very ferocious. She goes in for the attack, not pulling any punches, and when you do have a chance to fight back, she counters everything until she beats you... not unlike a mother bear actually.

Alice, my Alice, does what I thought she would. She sits and waits for you to make a decision. And then counters it. I told her that’s all fine and dandy until she faces an opponent who makes split decisions. We tried that, and let me say that my pixie is one hell of a fighter.

Now, it’s darling Edward’s turn, yippee. I look up from where I’m standing and see him staring intently at me. I turn back to Jasper and Emmett. “Jasper, could you maybe fight with Emmett, you know, use your smarts to get him to think a little… if you can somehow manage that miracle.” I jump when Emmett pokes me in the stomach and I wave them off before moving over to where Edward is standing. “You ready to go?” He sneers and walks over to the clearing we had been using. “Why, yes I am, Bella, thank you so much for helping us out,” I say dramatically and follow after him. I can hear Emmett and Jasper fighting in the background and I can’t stop the smile when I hear Emmett curse. Poor Emmett never stood a chance. I shake my head; I have to focus on Mr. Moody.

“I know you can’t read my thoughts, but that you will be able to hear the others’. I want to see how well you do when you can’t read them.” I say and adjust my stance. He runs at me and I easily dodge out of his way. He has been so dependent on his mind reading that he doesn’t know how to fight without them. I continue to dodge his sloppy attacks and start to attack him myself. He counters, but just barely. I can see the anger in his eyes and can hear the growl coming from his chest. After one more rush and me tripping him, which results in him landing on his butt on the ground I turn towards the Cullens.

“Alright, everyone listen up!” I yell, fighting Edward and seeing that he doesn’t know how to fight without being able to use his powers has really given me a wake-up call.

I rub my forehead, I am tired and sore, all I want is to take a nap and eat lots, and lots of food. “Look, you all are really good fighters but—“I am thrown to the side when Edward’s body slams into mine. I hit the ground hard and I barely get a glance of Edward over me, fire in his eyes and venom dripping from his exposed teeth, before he punches me in the face. I hear the crack, but don’t feel anything. My vision turns red and before I know it I have shifted. I growl and from the look on Edward’s face I must look pissed, but that doesn’t faze me. Edward jumps up off the ground and moves so that he is a good thirty feet away from me.

I can hear the yells of the other Cullens but that doesn’t matter to me. I launch forward and I feel Emmett come up behind me and try to stop me, but I just barrel him out of the way. The fire that had left Edward’s eyes when I shifted has come back and he runs towards me. We hit each other hard and a large, very loud crack resonates throughout the forest. Edward manages to latch onto my side as I roll on the ground. I reach around and grab his shirt, but it rips. I grab his arm and throw him off of me, and into a tree. He jumps up and rushes me, hissing and growling all the while. He launches himself at me but I skid and slide to the side and he misses. Before he can turn around I launch myself at his back and pin him down, my mouth around his neck. He struggles for a little bit, but I bite down harder and he stops moving.

The wolf in me tells me to end him, or at the very least, put him in his place. With a quick shake of my head, I clear the thoughts and get my point across.

I move off of him and he sits up, rubbing his neck. I start to pace back and forth, trying to make my anger go away, I can tell that Edward won’t do anything again, all the fire has left his eyes, replaced by defeat and shame. It’s that look that makes my anger vanish. I turn and look at his family, to see mixed expressions. Some are shocked, some disappointed, and one is very pissed off. I trot off towards the house and as soon as no one can see me I shift and grab some clothes. I wander back to see everyone standing in the same positions I left them in. I jog over to Edward, whose back is facing the rest of his family.

“Edward, look at me.” He does so briefly and I he looks lost. My wolf howls in pride that I have put him in his place, but my human side feels bad for him. “I don’t know what I did to make you hate me, but I am sorry, my intention was not to do so.” I grab his chin and stare him in the eyes. “But that does not mean I won’t tear you apart if you attack me again. Are we clear?” I ask and he nods, and I can see that there is no fight left in him. “Edward, listen, I don’t want to be enemies, I would prefer it if we were friends. All I want is to protect this family which I have come to call my own, I consider you part of my family, and, whether you like it or not, I will do my best to try and protect you.” I smile and hold out my hand. “Whether you need it or not. Now, what do you say? Are we done trying to kill each other?” A ghost of a smile graces his lips and he nods. The fire isn’t back, but there is something there, something warm, that wasn’t there before. I don’t know what I did that made his feelings change so suddenly, but I’m glad they have.

I pull Edward up onto his feet. We turn to face everyone else and they are looking at us strangely. Not unlike I have an octopus on my head. I hear Edward suck in a breath beside me.

“Bella.” I look at him and he’s staring at me...but not my face, more my head. I reach up and feel something warm and sticky on my fingers. I pull my hand away and find that it is covered in blood. Huh, looks like Edward cracked my skull. We start towards them when I start feeling dizzy and find it harder and harder to get the air I need in my lungs. “Bella, are you alright?” Edward asks, but his voice is distant and distorted. I offer a small chuckle.

“Guys, I’m not feeling so good.” I get out before blackness takes over my vision. I briefly feel someone catching me before I lose consciousness.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muwhahahah here's another one.

Chapter 13

I wake up to hissing. And growling. Very, very loud growling. I go to sit up and I feel something push me back down.

"Bella, dear, you have to stay on your back." I can hear the gentleness in the person's voice and it sounds familiar, but I can't place who it is. I open my eyes, but my vision is too blurry, all I can see is a figure leaning over me. Fatigue hits me and I close my eyes, and soon fall asleep, even with the growling and hissing.

XxXxXxXxXx

I wake up and the first thing I notice is absolute silence. Nothing, and I mean nothing is making any sort of sound. It's deafening. Which leads me to think that I am not outside, well, that and all I can smell is antiseptic I open my eyes and the blurriness is still there, but after blinking a few times, I can see. The next thing I notice is the piercing pain in my head. I reach up and can only feel bandages. Oh my God, what had I done this time? I sigh to myself and sit up. Not the best move ever considering that almost immediately the room starts to spin. I grip the edges of the bed and wait, for what seems like hours, for the room to right itself. After it does, I come to my third conclusion of the day; I am in the Cullen's house, specifically Carlisle's office.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand. I don't fall, so that's a bonus, but the room tilts. I close my eyes until I feel my balance getting back to normal. After a minute or so I open my eyes and walk towards the door, only stumbling here and there. I reach the door and open it, cringing when it makes the slightest of creaks, sounding so loud in the silence. I creep out the office, trying not to make noise for some odd reason. I make it to the stairs and there is still no noise, which is really out of character for the Cullens since they were always breathing, watching TV, playing video games, cooking, or teasing one another… there was always some sort of noise, and this lack of noise was starting to scare me. I walk down the stairs and stand in the doorway that leads into the living room.

If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that someone had perfect statues of the Cullens and had put them in their house. They weren't moving at all. I lean up against the doorframe and study them closely.

They all have dark circles under their eyes, worse than usual. Carlisle is holding Esme close, with a small frown playing at his lips. Esme looks like she hasn't slept in days, which she hasn't but you know, whatever. Her hair is slightly messed up and her skin looks paler than usual. Her lips are pressed together and she looks worried. Emmett and Rosalie both look concerned. Emmett isn't wearing any form of a smile and that scares me more than anything. Rosalie is looking at the ground and her mouth is set in a frown. My eyes roam over to Jasper who looks the worst out of everyone, although I'm not surprised. Whatever they are worried about individually must be pretty significant if they aren't doing anything. I can't imagine what Jasper must be feeling, or the extent of which he is feeling it. His eyes are pitch black, his clothes are wrinkled, and his hair is mussed up. That's when I notice that neither Alice nor Edward are in the room.

I take a step into the living room and, at the same time, their heads snap up and look at me. I give a small smile and a little wave. "Hey, guys," I say softly and it comes out roughly. Carlisle looks at me, a small smile playing on his lips. Esme's hand is covering her mouth, but I can see the tears gathering in her eyes. Emmett has the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face. Even Rosalie has a smile playing at her lips and I can see the relief in her eyes, and if I'm not mistaken, she might have a few tears of her own. I look over at Jasper and I can see the relief in his eyes and posture, he's nearly slumped over in his seat. He has a smile on his lips and I think that that is the first time I've seen him smile fully.

I hear a small laugh and before I can turn to see who had done it, I am wrapped up in a strong, yet gentle embrace. I inhale and Esme's familiar scent washes over me. I hug her back and chuckle.

"Oh, Bella. We didn't think you were going to wake up." She says and her voice is shaking a little. I pull back, startled.

"You guys were that way because of me?" I ask looking around the room. "You were catatonic, what the hell?"

"Bella, do you not remember what happened?" Carlisle asks walking up to his wife and pulling her into his arms. I shake my head.

"All I remember was Edward freaking out, we fought, I won….. and then nada."

"It was one hell of a good fight, Belly-button." Emmett pipes up and I hear a small smack from Rosalie's hand connecting with the back of his head. Carlisle shakes his head and looks back at me, and looks me up and down.

"Bella, Edward had, essentially, broken your head. Into pieces. You passed out because of the major trauma to your brain. Even with your superior healing abilities, you were out and in danger for a week. Frankly, Bella, you are lucky to be alive." I stare at Carlisle, my mouth hanging open.

"But, Edward didn't hurt me that bad," I mumble and Carlisle shakes his head again.

"Bella, your skull was in pieces, literally. He did hurt you that badly." Carlisle says and I can hear a hint of anger in his voice. I look around and I can see that Rosalie and Emmett are mad. Jasper looks pained and Esme looks torn between feeling happy that I'm here and being upset at Edward.

"But we're cool now. I don't blame Edward for what he did, he was angry and he dealt with it." I shrug, "We're all good, in my opinion." I ignore the surprised looks that I get from some of the vampires and take another look around the room. "Speaking of Edward, where is he, and where is Alice?"

"Well, after you passed out, Alice lost it. She went after Edward like she was possessed. We couldn't break them apart… at all. I tried and I got my arm ripped off. I've never seen Alice that pissed." Emmett finishes talking more to himself than to me. I turn and face Carlisle and cock an eyebrow.

"We really did try to stop her, but we couldn't. They finally stopped fighting only after Edward managed to get away and run. Alice was gone the rest of the day, but she came back that evening and was by your side the rest of the time." Carlisle says softly. I was worried, my pixie was never hot-tempered, and certainly the least violent of all the vampire "children".

"Where is she?" I ask, clearing my throat and pushing the tears and worry away.

"She was by your side until yesterday. Since then she has been outside in the forest somewhere." Esme says looking concerned for her youngest.

"I have to find her," I say and head towards the back door. I hear the Cullens follow me out but I turn and stop them. "I think it would be best if I went and got her alone," I say softly and Carlisle nods and gently steers his family back towards the living room. I toss a quiet "thank you" over my shoulder before heading towards the woods.

It isn't Alice at all to be sad and depressed. I didn't voice it, but I was scared. So very scared that Alice had gone off somewhere and I wouldn't be able to find her. I knew Alice could take care of herself, but Rachel had told me about what happened when vampires--and werewolves actually--lost their mates. Some recovered and went about their business, some secluded themselves for the rest of their days, and some lost it. My wolf whines and paces back and forth to go and find my mate before anything could happen to her.

I make it outside and wipe the tears away from my cheek. I hear quiet steps behind me and I inhale deeply again in a vain attempt to control my emotions. I feel a set of cool, strong arms wrap around my shoulders and I can tell it's Rosalie. Against my will, my body leans into her, and words fall from my lips sounding shaky and hoarse. "Is she okay, Rosalie?" I hear Rosalie take in a deep breath and I feel her shoulders sag a little.

"To be honest, I don't know. After she came back she stayed by your side for almost a week. She didn't move, she didn't eat, nothing. We were all worried about you, but Alice? She looked almost broken. At first, we all thought that you would get better, and Carlisle told us that you would… but after three days, even he stopped hoping. You hadn't wiggled, your heartbeat was weak and slow, so slow. By Thursday, yesterday, we all thought that you were going to be like that forever. Alice just… left. When she left, she didn't say a word. Bella, she looked so broken and lost, like she nothing left to live for. We didn't know what to do, Mom and I went to go after her, but Jasper stopped us." She pauses and looks out, searchingly, at the forest. She turns back to me and squeezes my shoulders, and I can see tears in her eyes. "Bella, I beg you, find her and bring her back. We won't be the same without her." I don't have a response so instead, I kiss her cheek and I pull away from her embrace. I look at her one final time before I shift and head off into the forest.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter!

A barrage of scents assaults my nose almost immediately, but I pay them no attention. I am sore as hell. I guess doing nothing but lying in a bed for a week really puts you out of shape…. anyway. I stretch and I can't help the small whine that leaves my mouth. After a minute of stretching, I notice the one thing that I came looking for; Alice's scent. I stop immediately in my tracks, desperately trying to find the source of the scent. I get lucky in the sense that the wind is carrying her scent towards me. Mixed emotions war within me, I am absolutely devastated that Alice is the way she is now, but, at the same time, I can't contain the excitement of seeing her again, no matter what she is like.

I head off in the direction that the scent is coming from, it's faint, but I can track it. My nose is glued to the ground for a couple of miles until the scent is so weak, that I can't smell it anymore. The wind has shifted and I have reached a creek. I can't contain the sorrow that bubbles within me and a howl escapes my mouth. I frantically search for the scent again and I almost give up hope when once more the wind blows her scent in my direction. Before I can lose it, I shoot off in her direction.

I travel a long ways, long enough that it is starting to get dark, on the bright side, however, I no longer need the wind blowing in my favor to track her scent, and I am definitely close. I double my efforts and push my muscles even harder. I follow her scent to a clearing. I can smell her all around me and it is driving me insane! I can sense her, smell her, but I can't see her. I whine again and let loose a howl. I run forward for about a mile, but I have to stop due to exhaustion and because her scent is getting fainter and fainter the further out I go. I decide to trot back to the clearing. I reach the middle and lay down, and then I notice something different. There are no animal noises and there is a faint smell of blood. I track it to a tall pine and jump up on it with my front paws, the smell is definitely coming from this tree, and that means that Alice is in this tree. I am no longer tired, and I can't stop my tail from wagging. I jump up to the first branch when it snaps and I fall to the ground. I shake away the confusion and realize that there is no way on God's green earth that I will be able to climb that tree in wolf form, I knew I should have brought some clothes.

I shift back and a wave of fatigue hits me, hard. I push past it, however, and pull myself onto the tree. I look up and there is a lot of tree to cover, I sigh, but I pull myself up further, knowing that, at the top, Alice was waiting for me and that was all the incentive I needed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My peeps, there are 30 chapters in all for this story. We have reached the middle, mildly exciting huh?
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me and for all the Kudos and comments, they mean lots n lots. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Happy Late Valentine's Day!!! I hope you were able to spend it with your loved ones :3 And if not, well, I love you :D

I pulled myself up onto the next branch and rest against the trunk. I had been climbing for 30 minutes and I was only half way up. I was utterly exhausted, and no matter how badly I wanted to see Alice and believe me I really wanted to see her, my body wouldn't cooperate. I look up and see nothing but branches. A heavy sigh leaves me and I know that I have to keep searching, but my body won't move. I growl and try again, but I still don't move. I feel wetness on my cheeks and I realize that I am crying. I so desperately wanted Alice, my Alice, but I couldn't move.

The wind shifts and I can smell her. Her sweet scent is coming from right above me. I look up again and call out for her, but I receive no response. Frantically I try and stand on the branch, and to my surprise, I actually stand. I call out her name again and climb higher.

When I am almost to the top, it begins to rain, and the climbing gets harder. I climb as fast as my body allows me to, and I am only a few feet from the top. There is a gap in the branches and I have to jump to get to the next level. So I jump… and lose my footing. I fall backward and start to fall down towards the ground when I hit a branch and am able to stop my fall. I pull myself up and try to suck desperately needed air into my lungs when a bird only a few feet up bursts from the tree screeching a warning. I look closer and I see that there is a shadow in the tree a human shaped shadow. It's almost embarrassing at how much joy and relief wash through me, but I don't care. I had found her!

I climb as quickly, and carefully, as I can to reach her. I reach her branch and call out to her, but she doesn't respond. Fear washes through me and I push the hanging branches out of my way and move so that I am almost on top of her. When I finally get a good look at her, I can't stop the gasp from leaving me. She looks awful, worse than any of the others. Her clothes are soaked at this point and they are wrinkled and dirty. Her hair is tangled and dirty as well. Her skin is paler than normal, and the circles under her eyes are almost completely black. Her eyes, though, are what break my heart. They are pitch black and empty. There is no emotion there, nothing. Not a trace of the beautiful pixie is left in her. She is staring out at nothing. I grab her face gently in my hands and turn her head to face me, but she still doesn't respond. I start to cry again.

"Alice, babe, come on. Look at me, say something." I beg desperately. I grab her hands and pull them to my chest cradling them in my own, still nothing. Anguish and hopelessness fill me and, without realizing what I am doing, I punch the trunk of the tree and it shatters. I feel a stinging and then burning sensation in my hand, but I ignore it. Running out of ideas, I grab her face again. "Alice, please, I need you, your family needs you. We aren't the same without you. Please… I love you." I finish and kiss her as gently as I can considering that I am an emotional wreck. I feel the tears slide down my cheeks when she doesn't respond and I pull away sobbing, resting my forehead against hers.

"Bella?" I barely hear her whisper my name, but I do and my eyes snap open and I see her looking at me, actually looking at me. A laugh escapes me and I hug her with all my might. She was back, my pixie was back. "Bella, I thought you were in a coma?" she questions, not hugging me back. I pull away and look at her.

"I was, but I woke up today. You weren't there and everyone was worried and I came looking for you, and… I'm just glad you are okay!" I say pulling her back into a hug, this time she returns it. I feel her shoulders shake and soon after, she starts to sob. "Oh, babe, it's okay now. I'm here, I'm here. I whisper, picking her up and cradling her to my chest as I maneuver so that my back is resting against what's left of the tree.

"B-Bella. I didn't think you were going to w-wake up." She gasps out and I run my hand through her hair in hopes of soothing her.

"I know, I know. But I'm here now, and I'm not going to leave you. I love you too much to do that." I say and her head snaps up. "What, I do. I love your family, and you. I wouldn't be able to leave."

"I thought I was hearing things." She chuckles and buries her head into my shoulder. She pulls my hand into hers and goes to kiss, but she stops. "Bella, why is there blood on your hand?" Confused, I look at it. She was right, there was blood on it.

"Um, I might have punched a certain tree when I thought that a certain vampire wasn't going to 'wake up'," I say softly and she looks guilty. I cup her face. "Alice, what's wrong?"

"You got hurt because of me. You got hurt because I couldn't stay around you anymore thinking that you weren't ever going to wake up. You got hurt because I was selfish." She finishes looking down. I study her for a moment, watching the rain roll down her face and drip into her lap.

"I got hurt because I couldn't control my emotions, not because you were scared," I say softly. "I don't blame you, you know. I would have done something very similar. I… I can't live without you, Alice. I can't live without the most important thing in my life." I say kissing her softly. I pull back and she is wearing a small smile, and I believe that, at this point, she has never looked more beautiful. Her brows pull together and she tilts her head to the side. "What?" I ask, not sure why she was looking at me like that.

"You said I have never been more beautiful." She states, and, glancing at herself, she shakes her head. "I am a mess." Huh, I had thought that I had only thought that, oh well.

"You…" I pause, not sure whether or not I should tell her what I saw, but she cups my jaw.

"I what, Bella? Please tell me." She pleads and I can't deny her.

"You didn't see yourself. The way you looked." My voice breaks and a lump form in my throat. I see the concern on her face and continue. "You looked broken, empty. The pixie that I had come to love, so full of life and happiness, was empty. All of your life had left you. It broke my heart, so yes, seeing you smile and the life back into your eyes is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." I finish looking away from her. She says nothing but she turns my head so that I am facing her.

"I love you, Bella, so much. I promise I won't go back to that again. I won't leave again." She says firmly and pulls me into a kiss, this one much more passionate than the ones before.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah! Another chapter and it's almost 2,000 words. I'm sorry guys, I'm not good with fluff, but I will try to have some in the upcoming chapters. I know Esme and others seem a little OOC, sorry.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 16

We take our time climbing down the tree, something that could have taken twenty minutes, took us over an hour. Well, it would take you an hour, too, if you stopped every few branches to kiss your girlfriend just to make sure that she was really there. When we finally reach the bottom, it's almost dawn. I look up and sigh. The relief of all this being over washes through me and suddenly, my legs can't hold my weight. Alice turns around in time to see me fall, but she flashes over to my side right before I hit the ground.

"Bella! Oh my God, Bella, what's wrong?" She asks searching me up and down. I chuckle and her head snaps up to look at me, and she doesn't look pleased. I need to remember next time that an emotionally strained vampire that hasn't eaten in a week is a very touchy vampire.

"It's okay, Alice. I'm fine, I'm just tired." She looks at me skeptically. "Okay, I'm exhausted… but other than that I'm fine. I mean I haven't eaten in over a week and I just woke up, but I'm okay. Some sleep and sustenance and I'll be good as new!" I say smiling brightly, but it quickly vanishes when I see the frown and guilty look. "Hey," I say gently leaning up to cup her face. "I would feel like this anyway. Maybe less dirty and wet," I give her a wink and a small giggle graces my ears, "but I would still be hungry and tired. Actually, when have you known me to not be hungry?" She smiles and wraps me in a hug. "There's my girl," I say and kiss her temple. "Now let's go home," I pull away and attempt to stand. Alice takes a step back, but her hands are on my waist. I manage to stand but I am a little wobbly. I look over to Alice and smile, but she looks anxious. She glances at me and a nervous smile adorns her face.

"I'm worried what everyone will think." She says softly, and I smile at her.

"They won't think any less of you if that's what you are worried about. They were worried, not angry. Esme and Rosalie almost came after you, but Jasper stopped them. I almost wished he hadn't though."

"He knew I wanted to be alone. In hindsight, I wish he would have stopped me, too." She pauses for a moment. "Are you sure they aren't mad at me for running off?" I pull her close.

"They aren't anywhere near mad. Worried, oh yeah, but not mad. Matter of fact, we better go home before they come looking." I say and she smiles. She kisses me again and I can't help but lean into her. She pulls away with a giggle. "You'll have to forgive me, your kisses make me weak at the knees and it seems that I am incapable of standing up, so no more kisses until a meal and some rest," I say and she nods, but then a smirk graces her features. "Uh oh, I know that look. What are you—"I am cut off when she picks me up bridal style, "doing? But I guess it's pointless asking now."

"This way I can kiss you all I want, and we don't have to worry about you falling over." She says emphasizing her point by kissing me and walking. I smile and pull away, glancing at our bodies.

"Do you know how ridiculous this looks? I mean I am seven inches taller than you, you have the physique of a ballerina, and let's not forget that I'm utterly naked. I should be the gentleman here and carry you," I pause and pretend to think, "actually, the thing I should do first is put on clothes but eh." Her eyes darken and her eyes quickly run over my body but she laughs and kisses my nose.

"It wouldn't be very gentlemanly like when we both fall to the ground because you can't carry yourself, let alone me. And trust me, your state of undress hasn't escaped my notice, but this is neither the place and certainly not the time for such thoughts." She points out and I grumble to myself in annoyance, I hate it when she's right.

We eventually reach the house, but no one can be seen. I know they're inside and itching to come out and check on Alice, so why haven't they come out yet?

"They are giving us time." Alice murmurs, setting me down gently. I glance at her and then at the house. She gives a small nod, and worry flashes in her eyes. I wrap an arm around her waist, hoping that the action will comfort her.

"Well, they don't need to give us time," I say louder than necessary, but not a second later are they coming out the door. Stupid vampires, still being respectful and not rushing out here. Esme and Rosalie are the first ones to reach us, and I let go of Alice to give her and family some space. Surprisingly, Rosalie comes to my side and wraps an arm around my waist, handing me some clothes. I blush but offer my thanks.

"She okay?" She asks quietly and I lean heavily on her side.

"Yeah, she's fine. She feels like you guys will hate her or something. Idiot." I say and Rosalie chuckles. "She feels guilty so I would tell Emmett to back off on the jokes for a bit," I say and I feel Rosalie nod. I feel her gaze on me and I turn to face her. She studies me closely.

"Are you okay?" She asks sincerely and I can see the double meaning of her words.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I know you know what she looked like, so I don't have to tell you, but I don't ever want her to look like that again. It was my fault that she did." I say angry at myself. "I'm as okay as I'm going to get on that aspect. Now for your other question, I'm exhausted and hungry… but I just want to sleep." I feel the full force of how tired I am hit me. I am surprised I didn't feel it earlier, but hey, I was distracted. I feel Rosalie shift so that she can hold more of my weight comfortably, she's practically holding me up.

"Bella, it's not your fault, it's Edwards." She says spitting his name out.

"No it isn't, okay so it kind of is, but please, I've forgiven him, you should, too," I say right before Carlisle and Jasper reach us. I know that they heard our conversation.

"You did too much, even for a werewolf," Carlisle says softly.

"Well, you would think that after a week of sleeping I wouldn't be so tired," I say grinning. He smiles softly.

"You were in a coma for a week to let your body heal. You are tired because apparently, even with your sped up healing, your healing isn't complete. That, and you haven't eaten." He says. I nod and glance over at Alice, who has just been released from her mother's hug. Rosalie moves in next. I smile gently at the two of them, they really are sisters, and I am glad that they have each other. I am distracted when I feel someone hugging me really, really tight. It feels like an Emmett hug, but the body hugging me is definitely not Emmett's.

"Bella, oh Bella dear. Thank you for bringing her back." She is crying, even if there are no tears. "Thank you. I'm so happy that the both of you are safe and alright." I laugh and she pulls back. Something seems to occur to her because she gasps and starts to mumble something to herself. I turn to Carlisle to ask what is going on only to find him giving Alice a hug. Jasper chuckles softly and gives me a one-armed hug.

"She has just realized that you haven't eaten. She is planning a meal for you, and from the sounds of it, it's a week's worth." I gape and stare him. "Don't worry, we'll tell her that that won't be necessary, but she is going to make excessive amount for the next few weeks, you know that right?" I smile fondly at Esme and nod. He squeezes me one last time before moving to Alice. I see Emmett moving towards me and I brace for impact. Impact never comes. I look up at him and see him smiling gently; he never smiles like that, what's wrong with him?

"Rose told me to be gentle." He explains and understanding washes through me. "Are you two okay?" he asks and I nod, smiling. "Good, because the little ball of sunshine over there really loves you and it would suck if you two weren't okay. Then again, I don't think that mates can ever be not okay with one another." He trails off and I can't help the laugh that escapes me.

"We're fine, Emmett, just hold off with the jokes, for a little bit anyways. She feels like all of this is her fault."

"What, why?" I shrug at his question.

"She just does, like I told Rosalie, she's an idiot." He chuckles and pulls me into a gentle hug. "But she's my idiot," I say with a fond smile.

"I really am glad that you two are okay." I only nod in agreement.

After everyone has said their hello's and has checked to see if we are okay, Alice and I move to her room. She essentially has to carry me, but we make it. She sets me down gently on the bed and moves to the other side. She pulls the sheets and covers over us and pulls me into her. I can feel myself falling asleep already, but I force myself to stay awake for a bit longer.

"Are you going to hunt when I am asleep?" I ask through a yawn. I feel her shake her head.

"I told you I wasn't leaving." She says softly, kissing my shoulder. I feel my eyebrows draw together. I turn so that we are facing each other.

"Alice, you need to hunt. You can leave for that, I didn't think you meant that quite so literally." She bites her lip.

"I talked to Carlisle, and he says that I am feeling like this because the vampire part of me won't let you go, not again." I scoot impossibly closer to her.

"Feeling like what?"

"That I really can't leave you. That you have to be within eyesight at all times… and I get it if that is kind of suffocating, but I don't really have a choice, if it bothers you I can—"I cut her off with a kiss.

"It's fine. I'm not really in any particular hurry to let you go either, but how are you going to hunt. I thought that hunting was kind of a personal thing that no one interrupts?"

"Well, technically it is, but since you're my mate, you can. Actually, anyone from here could come. Our inner vampire trusts each other enough that it doesn't freak if they are there and we are hunting. So… will you go hunting with me tomorrow?" I smile at the shyness in her voice and kiss her gently.

"Of course I will… I might not kill anything, but sure. I'll go." I say yawning again and I can't fight off the exhaustion anymore. I turn so that my back is to her front and my head is tucked under her chin. "I love you, Alice. Always." I don't get to hear her if she responds because I am instantly asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rah hah! Two chapters! Cause I love you guys that much! :3 
> 
> Hope this is better than the last!
> 
> Also, yeah, there's some drama a-coming so be warned. Bella is about to pitch a major drama queen fit.

CH 17

I wake up, but not because I am ready to wake up. No, I wake up because my whole body is shaking and because there is this quiet rumbling coming from my chest. I attempt to sit up but a weight on my chest prevents any possibility of that happening. I feel myself starting to panic, and I claw at the weight holding me down, a not so quiet growl rumbling deep in my chest. Almost immediately Alice's face appears over mine.

"Bella? Bella, what's wrong?" she asks grasping my face between her hands, her eyes scanning my face intently. Relief washes through me and I rest against the pillows. Alice seems to notice my relaxed state because the worried crease of her brow retreats.

"Nothing. I… I had just forgotten where I was and all that had happened and when I couldn't move I freaked out a little." I say sucking in deep breaths. Alice moves off of me and retreats to her side of the bed, looking guilty. "No, Alice, I didn't mean… it's not your fault. I just forgot is all." I smirk, "believe me when I tell you that I have no problems with you touching me." She chuckles in response and all the tension drains from her body. I close my eyes and lean further into the pillows, fully intending to get more sleep. That is until I feel her put her full weight on me, her body flush with mine. My eyes snap open and meet hers instantly. She is wearing a predatory grin and her eyes are as black as night.

"That's good, considering what I want to do to you will be difficult if I can't touch you." She says huskily and my mouth goes dry… unlike other places of mine. I lick my lips and respond with a witty comeback.

"Uh… yeah?" I manage and mentally facepalm. Her smile just widens and she leans down until she is mere centimeters away. I feel her breath on my lips and my eyes close.

"Yeah." She says before slamming her lips to mine. Immediately, my arms go around her neck and my hands tangle in her hair. I pull her closer against me and I hear and feel her growl against me. She shifts so that one of her thighs is between my own and I gasp at the pressure. She takes advantage and her tongue plunders my mouth, leaving no crevice unexplored. Our tongues dance together, fighting for dominance. I have to eventually pull back to breathe but she doesn't stop. Instead, she moves to my jaw, leaving opened mouthed kisses as she goes. She reaches the pulse point on my neck and I arch into her, desperately trying to get closer. I feel her breathy laugh against my throat before she places a chaste kiss against it. She kisses her way back to my mouth slowly, torturously so. I know she is teasing me when I lean up to kiss her and she pulls back, I can't help the frustrated growl that escapes my chest. She chuckles and kisses her way to my ear. "Someone's a little eager." She says before taking my ear between her teeth, nicking it enough for a little bit of venom to enter my body. The pain only amplifies the pleasure and I am flipping us so that she is on her back and I am on top. She breathes out a laugh and leans up to kiss me but I pull away, grinning wickedly. She growls lightly but leans back into the pillows.

"Now who's eager?" I ask teasingly before kissing down the column of her throat. I bite at her sternum and I hear her hiss in pleasure. I grin and make my way down till I hit the edge of her tank top. I pull away, a tease on my lips but she quickly reaches down and rips it off and throws it across the room. She tangles her fingers in my hair and pulls me back up her body and towards her lips, crashing them together.

"Me. Now stop teasing." She demands against my lips and I smile into the kiss.

"As you wish." I murmur, kissing her gently once more before sliding back down her body, making sure to take my time. I eventually reach the tops of her breasts but I decide to move to one side and kiss down her side, completely avoiding where she wants me.

"Bella." She grinds out warningly, but I ignore her and, instead, move down towards the shorts she "slept" in. Her complaints stop there and instead she makes a noise that causes my stomach to tighten and my blood to rush. I lick near the waistband of her shorts before taking the edge of them in my teeth and pulling them down her smooth legs.

"You are wearing way too much, Bella," Alice says, her voice low and she flips us once more so that she is straddling me.

"Well, if you were a good girlfriend you would amend that," I say before pulling her down on top of me. She kisses me eagerly and I feel her cool hand creep under my shirt and start venturing north. I gasp when she reaches my breast and tweaks a nipple. She takes the opportunity to push her tongue past my lips and into my mouth. I slide my hand out of her hair and maneuver it down her neck and then down her arm until I reach her stomach. I slide my hand down until I reach her thigh. I feel her growl and she pushes herself further into me while, quite literally, ripping my shirt off of me. "I really liked that shirt, and it wasn't even mine," I mumble against her lips.

"I'll buy you and Rose ten more, just… don't stop." She pants against my lips. I smile and do as she says. My fingers just barely dip into her shorts when the door opens and a very flustered Jasper pokes his head in. Alice rips her lips away from mine and snarls at Jasper. It takes everything I have not to laugh. As scary as Alice can be, it's hard to find her that way with her hair all mussed up and standing in nothing but her bra and short shorts.

"Um…. Carlisle says that you really, really need to hunt Alice." Jasper says, his voice shaking and high pitched and when I look closer I see that his hands are clenched and that his eyes are black. Why is he…oh, right. He can sense others' emotions…. and Carlisle sent him up here? That's just mean. I tune back into the conversation just in time to see Jasper's eyes go wide and him disappear from the doorway quickly.

Alice turns back to face me, an angry pout on her lips. I chuckle lightly and she growls at me. "I don't see why you are laughing, this just means that we don't get to finish what we started." She says and I stand up, pulling one of my intact shirts from the closet. I blow my bangs out of my eyes and walk to where she is standing. Pulling her into my arms, I kiss her temple.

"I'm not upset because I have the rest of my life to make love to you, and I am a very patient person, you know." She laughs lightly and gently kisses my throat.

"Fine. Now, will you do me the pleasure of coming to hunt with me?" She asks into my neck, the sound coming out muffled.

"The pleasure is all mine, love. Lead the way."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rah hah! Another chapter!

CH 18

We both head down the stairs, never losing contact with each another. We reach the living room where everyone but Carlisle is sitting... and trying not to smile. Emmett opens his mouth, most likely to comment on what Alice and I were doing, but a sharp elbow from Rosalie prevents him from doing so.

"Alice, dear, Carlisle is waiting for you outside. He wants to speak with you." Esme says gently with a teasing yet adoring smile.

Alice nods and looks down shyly. I look at Alice, intrigued, but before I have the chance to comment, Esme speaks up again.

"I do believe he wanted to talk to you alone, dear." She says smiling at me apologetically. Alice glances at me quickly before heading off towards the back door, albeit reluctantly.

"What's her deal?" I say very confusedly… I mean there wasn't even any teasing. Did I miss something? I hear Jasper chuckle.

"Bella, she's embarrassed. She is going to get a talking to by Carlisle." He provides at my still confused look. "I'm sure she'll explain when you guys go out together." He says and looks down, looking almost identical to Alice, though when Alice does it, she looks absolutely adorable. And Jasper is… well, Jasper.

"I have another question, Jasper." I say smirking. "Why did Carlisle send you of all people to stop our activities?" I glance quickly at Emmett when he snorts and look back at Jasper when he clears his throat, looking unbelievably uncomfortable. If he had the ability he would have been bright red.

"You see, our little Jasper here makes it impossible to do anything fun," Emmett's face sours a moment before smiling again, "every time we try, he complains that it bothers him," Emmett says with a laugh, punching a rather uncomfortable looking Jasper. "Which was fine with mom and dad until," he grimaces and shudders," they went at it, and Jasper pitched a fit. He singlehandedly put a stop to all extracurricular activities. Thanks for that, man." He turns and looks at Esme, who won't meet his gaze. "Not so much fun now is it, mom?" He questions, emphasizing the last word.

"You're just mad because you two," she gestures between Emmett and Rosalie, "can't go at it like rabbits." Esme says defensively and I can't help the bark of laughter that escapes me. "Anyway, to answer your question, Jasper happened to be having a bad day, more so than usual, and was particularly susceptible to emotions. So when Carlisle and I took advantage of some time alone, Jasper was really… affected by it. He ended up bursting into our room and screaming at us to stop." Esme says chuckling upon reminiscing.

"Not one of my finer moments. But trust me when I say that I have greater control over my powers now." Jasper says smiling lightly if not uncomfortably.

"Carlisle was not very happy, to say the least, and he knows how… uncomfortable Jasper gets in these situations, so when the opportunity arose to get back at him, he didn't hesitate." Esme laughs at Jasper's frown and moves over to wrap him in a one-arm hug. "I did try to stop him, dear."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you tried your very best, mom, thanks." Jasper says dryly, but with a grin, returning his mother's hug.

I just stare at them. Carlisle and Esme? First, ew, so gross to think about. Second, Carlisle is nice and mature, he wouldn't do that, would he? Well, I guess… Alice wasn't very happy when Jasper interrupted us, I mean, I don't like being interrupted, but I wouldn't send the empath to break up relations. That's just mean. Ah well, a little evil never really killed anyone not from embarrassment anyway.

I am startled out of my thoughts when a cold arm wraps around my waist and a kiss is planted on the underside of my jaw.

"You ready, babe?" Alice asks quietly, with a small smile. I kiss her forehead and nod eagerly as we leave, giving a small wave to everyone as we go. Carlisle passes us as we are heading out the door and gives us a small smile.

When we are a safe distance from the house, Alice speaks. "We need to talk."

Uh-oh. The dreaded words that in every movie, book, and TV-show use during break-up scenes.

"Yay?" I say, nervous, and she just chuckles.

"I'm not breaking up with you, you dork. Quite the opposite, actually." She says fondly leaning against a tree.

"I need to talk about what we are getting ready to do… it can be dangerous." She says her brow crinkling. I move in close and lean against her, pinning her against the tree. She looks up into my eyes and frowns.

"I'm serious, Bella. I could kill you." I roll my eyes at her and she clenches her jaw.

"Bella!" She stomps her foot, "I know that you are a werewolf but really… this has never been done before. I don't know what can happen and that worries me." She says softly and I kiss the worried wrinkle away from her forehead.

"Love, we'll be fine. You wouldn't be able to kill me," I pause at her glare, "not because you aren't physically capable. We all know you could kick my ass into next week, but because I am your mate and the human side of you won't let you." I finish and she snaps her head up to look at me.

"My human side?"

"Out of all the stuff I said, you decided to focus on that?" She doesn't respond and I sigh. "Yes, your human side. I've met plenty of vampires in my time and none of them have been as… nice as you. Most have been like wild animals," I cup her cheek when she flinches, "but you Cullens…" I smile, "…you Cullens are something else. You took in a girl that you had no idea who she was, took her back even after you found out she was a werewolf, and then accepted me again when I almost destroyed one of your own."

I look down and I feel Alice squeeze my hand. "You live among people because you drink animal blood. You go against your very nature to keep the people around you safe." I reach my other hand up and brush my thumb along her cheek, she is grinning and her eyes are moist with tears.

"You are kinder than most people I have met." I pause, "So yes, your human side, which, if you ask me, is bigger than your vampire side." I barely get the words out before she launches onto her tiptoes and slams her mouth against mine. I wrap my arms around her neck and hers wrap around my waist. I tilt my head to gain better access and she pushes harder against me in return. I slide my tongue across her bottom lip and she growls, but instead of granting me access, she pulls away—panting might I add—and rests her head against my chest.

"We can't." She says in between breaths, "I have to hunt first."

She looks up and her eyes are pitch black. She chuckles, "Which leads me to the reason we aren't out hunting yet… I would've explained about it all already but someone distracted me." She says, the effect of her glare weakened by her smile.

"By all means, explain why I can't have my wicked way with you." I say, leaning in and nibbling on her neck. She gasps and leans back against the tree.

"This is going to be difficult unless you stop." She says breathlessly as I move to where her neck and shoulder meet. I groan and pull away. I motion for her to continue and she laughs. "A vampire's control is based off of two things… essentially; experience and thirst. In this case, thirst is the issue. The thirstier a vampire is, the less control they have."

"Your point? Because I'm pretty sure my blood doesn't call out to you." I say rather impatient with the hold up.

"Not in the way you're thinking, no. But when we get excited," I grin at her but she ignores me, "our thirst gets many times stronger and our control gets more and more out of hand."

"And this relates to me…how?" She rolls her eyes.

"God, Bella! You are so thick sometimes. You have blood. Nice, fresh, warm blood. And while it doesn't smell normal," she blatantly ignores my sarcastic "thanks", "it is still blood and it still smells appetizing. During the… act I could very well bite you and drain you dry."

Pushing away the inappropriate thoughts of her biting me, I take a step back and look her in the eye.

"Yeah, well, mates don't kill their mates." I say shrugging and she growls.

"That's because, generally, their mates are already dead!" She yells and I flinch back.

"I'm sorry that me being alive is such an inconvenience." I bite back sharply and I see the instant regret flash across her features, but I don't care that I am blowing our conversation out of proportion.

"Bella, that's not what I meant and you know that." Alice says defensively causing my anger to flare. I start to shake and I think Alice registers this because she calms instantly and takes a step towards me. "Bella, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you are an inconvenience, okay? Just that we have to take extra precautions because you're…"

"Alive?" I interrupt sharply. "All of your fucking problems are because I am alive!" I yell, ignoring the fact that I sound like a major drama queen, and all of the insecurities I have been feeling this entire time rush to the surface.

"Bella? No, it—"

"Really? Because I don't remember you having issues with the Quileute pack before I arrived, and now Sam is on some power trip. I don't remember you missing one of your family before I got here, either. So don't you fucking dare tell me that I am not an inconvenience. Rachel was right. I am insane for staying with you guys!" I yell between clenched teeth.

Alice steps forward and reaches for my face. I growl lowly in my chest and the shaking worsens.

"Bella, no. I got my mate out of it." I cut her off before she can continue.

"Yeah, what a great mate I am." I grit out sarcastically, "you can't even have sex when you want because you might kill me."

When the words leave my mouth, the truth of them hits me hard, and I find it difficult to breathe.

I will never be able to give Alice all that she needs or wants. I won't ever be good enough for her. I hit my breaking point and a sob leaves my chest before I shift and run away, effectively ignoring Alice calling after me.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in one day! It's because I have an 11-day break from school. GUYS! I have 12 more weeks of school then I go on my externship and then I'm done. I don't want to adult D:
> 
> Enjoy the chapter ^-^

CH 19

I run as fast as I can, my feet pounding against the ground. Nothing registers. Not the trees whizzing by me, not the shouting from behind me, nothing. The only thing running through my head is the fact that I am not what Alice needs. I am not her perfect mate. And if I am not perfect for Alice, then what good am I?

I catch the sound of a high pitched, heartbroken whine and only after a minute do I realize that it's coming from me. But I can't make it stop.

I continue running, for how long I don't know. When I do eventually stop I find myself in a very dense forest. I can't tell where I am from looking around, but if I had to guess, and based on how long I ran, I would say it's Canada.

I glance up and beyond the thick covering of leaves I can see that it's night, probably close to midnight. I glance around once again and trot off towards a large clump of boulders and fallen trees. I hop up on the biggest rock and glance up again. There is a break in the trees so I can see the sky clearly. There are millions of stars shining brightly and green lights painted across the sky. Alice would love this. As soon as the thought comes to me, the pain of reason why I am here hits me again. I tilt my head up and howl at the stars and lights, hoping that they'll be able to help me.

My howl ends in a quiet whine, but I can hear it echoing amongst the trees surrounding me. I lay down ignoring the sharp aching in my chest and try to get some sleep.

The snap of a branch at the base of the boulders wakes me. I jump down from my rock with my hair bristling and a low growl rumbling in my chest as my welcome to the intruder. I can't see him, but I can smell him and surprise causes me to stop growling more than anything. I shift back into my human form, not caring in the least that I am wearing my birthday suit.

"Edward. What do you want? Now is not really a good time to be fucking with me." I say with less venom than I wanted.

"I saw what happened. Between you an Alice." He says, and I clench my jaw at the thought of him seeing us. His eyes roam my body up and down, lingering here and there. I snort at him.

"That's peachy. Now did you come to gloat about that or to ogle me? Either way, fuck off." I spit out. He seems to realize that he was drooling all over the place because he shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck, his eyes on everything but me.

"Ah, sorry, but, no, that's not why I'm here. I'm actually here to tell you that you are making a mistake. Leaving Alice—leaving everyone—is a huge mistake."

"Please. We all know that you are not my biggest fan, and that's fine, really, but don't sit there and lie to me. I have caused all of you problems, and not minor ones. You guys are essentially going to war because of me."

"Being dramatic isn't your style, Bella, leave that to Rosalie. Bella, listen to me. These things would have happened eventually anyway, Sam is power hungry and shouldn't be trusted. You're more just the catalyst for everything." He holds a hand up at my glare and continues. "But you have also done so much good for us. Carlisle and Esme have another daughter. Esme has someone she can actually cook for. Emmett has a new sister that enjoys video games, wrestling, pranks, and jokes just as much as he does. Rosalie has made a new friend; one that has softened her up a little bit, one that has made her see that not all strangers are evil and are trying to expose us. Jasper has someone else to play chess with, share stories, and who enjoys tactics. He has found someone to talk to. Do I need to even talk about what you've done for Alice?" He asks, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh yes, I've done so, so much. She gets a werewolf as a girlfriend. That's just stupendous. Not only that, but a girlfriend that she has to make sure she isn't thirsty if we want to have sex. Do you know what this means? All that fantastic spontaneous sex, which is unbelievable by the way, can't happen. Oh my God, we'd have to make a calendar. 'Dear, did you go hunting this weekend like we planned? Oh good, so we can have sex tonight and tomorrow, but then we have to wait until you feed, well okay.' " Edward frowns at me and cocks an eyebrow.

"Don't you think that that is a tad overdoing it? You know that isn't true." I sigh because I know he's right. Even I am getting sick of my own melodramatic-ness.

"It doesn't feel like it. She could do all this stuff if her girlfriend was a vampire. Do you know how much it hurts that I am not what she needs? That I am not good enough for her, well, we all know that I'll never be good enough for her, no one ever will," I ignore his smile and continue, "but, before, I could at least pretend that my shortcomings were overlook…able. Yeah, overlookable, is that a word? Anyway, but now I see that it isn't something that can be ignored." I sigh and look away. "All I want is for her to be happy." I hear Edward move and soon his cold hand is lifting my head so that I am looking him in the eye.

"Bella, whoever said that she wasn't happy?" I glance at him and he continues, "you are more than Alice's girlfriend. You are her mate. Do you realize how rare it is for us to find ours? And it certainly isn't going to happen the day after you're turned. It takes a long time for us to find them, if we ever do. Being her mate makes you perfect for her, not perfect. Our mate is our other half, they complete us. They make life worth living. You mean the world to Alice, and she can no longer be happy with anyone else. She has found her perfect."

"I'm still not good enough."

"That's not true. Being mates isn't just about feelings. Look at how you and her fit together. She can get a little exuberant at times but now she has you to keep her grounded. And you, you are serious and use sarcasm as a defense against not letting people get close, but Alice loosens you up, breaks down those barriers. You both have ended each other's loneliness. She had a family, but she wanted more, was missing out on what Esme and Rosalie had, and you fixed that, just as she fixed you being completely alone."

"It wasn't just her; you guys ended it, too, you are all my family." I say quietly and Edward smiles.

"Yes, but you know what I meant." I look him in the eye.

"While we're on this, you don't have a mate either. And neither does Jasper for that matter." I say and he smiles.

"Yes, but unlike dear Alice we don't have to have someone, I mean we want someone, but we are fine with waiting. Alice is very sensitive and very social. I think it is safe to say that she needs her other half, needed you even before she knew who you were, to be happy. Jasper and I don't. So what I'm saying is that you and Alice need each other, deserve each other, and make each other happy."

"Well, I do miss her." I say, downplaying the sharp pain in my chest.

"Then go get her. I promise she won't reject you, she's too far gone for that." Edward says chuckling. I breathe out a laugh that's more of a sigh, and face him once more.

"Are you going back? Everyone is worried about you. "

"I will, soon, but there is one thing I have to do first. Tell everyone I say hey?" He asks with an apologetic smile and I nod.

I take a few steps away from him and start to shift, when I finish I move towards him. I stare him in the eye for a moment before putting my head over his shoulder and pulling him towards me. I feel him gently wrap his arms around my neck and squeeze back. "You're welcome." He says and I pull back and roll my eyes at him, but my tail swishes back and forth anyway. I bump him in the arm with my head before I take off for home and Alice.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot a third!!! This chapter has earned its Mature rating!
> 
> All I ask is that you guys don't judge too harshly for this is very, very out of my realm of knowledge it's sad. However, I hope you enjoy!!!

CH 20

I hadn't realized how far I had run the first time until I was on my way back. This time I was aware of my surroundings, aware of how far I was going, and let me just say that I am an impressive runner when I am utterly heartbroken and depressed. It took me a little longer to get home, I was back in Washington by almost noon and it took me another couple of hours to reach Forks. You see, I didn't feel like swimming from Canada to Washington so I took the long way around.

I reach Forks but stay a couple miles away from the Cullens' home. I don't know what I am going to say. I don't know how to apologize for the things I said and for being a dramatic bitch in general. I pace back and forth a mix of a whine and a growl rumbling in my chest.

The wind shifts and the smell of werewolf hits my nose. I bristle immediately and face my unlucky victim. A sand colored wolf appears out of the shade of the trees and approaches me, his tail between his legs, head bowed, and his eyes looking around me but never at me. All signs of submission. I stop growling but leave my hackles raised. As a sign of good faith, the wolf lies down and flips over, revealing his soft stomach. I lift my head and inhale deeply, searching for any of his pack mates. Smelling none, I sit down and give him my best "hurry it up" look. The wolf sits up, still with his head lowered and begins to shift.

Where the wolf once stood now stands a boy with sand colored hair. He isn't very old and isn't very tall which explains why he was so small as a wolf. He's shifted at a young age. I stare at him and he shifts uncomfortably, taking a step back. The bitter smell of fear drifts off of him and I chuckle. The boy seems to mistake it for a growl because the smell intensifies and he takes several steps back. I lay down, crossing my front paws and stare at him expectantly. He still reeks of fear, but it starts to dwindle until it's just under all the other scents of the forest.

"Uhm, Bella right?" The boy asks, his voice shaking and I nod my head. "Hi, I'm Seth." I dip my head slightly at him and he smiles nervously. "I was on patrol when I caught your scent and so I followed you. I wanted to tell you that you need to be careful. We patrol in twos now and if we catch either you or the Cullens, we've been ordered to attack." I stand up immediately and growl at him, I back up and lift my nose to the air searching for his patrol buddy. He steps forward with his hands in front of him. "No! I'm by myself! I didn't bring anyone with me, I promise. I want to help!" I stop growling and slowly make my way towards Seth. He flinches and takes a step back but he then holds still.

I move my face right in front of his so that we are nose to nose. He still won't meet my eye but he doesn't move. Believing him, I huff causing his bangs to flop in front of his eyes and lie back down. I tilt my head and he visibly relaxes. "Right well, I wanted to tell you that Sam is planning on attacking you guys, but right now they still think you've left. Paul saw you leave yesterday, and he immediately told Sam. It won't be long before they catch your scent again, but I don't know if that'll stall him or make him attack sooner."

I stand to leave but a hand on my shoulder stops me. "Wait! Like I said, I want to help." I snort at him but he shakes his head. "I do! Sam….all Sam wants to do is wipe out the Cullens. But you guys aren't so bad. I know that they drink animal blood and go to school. Mr. Cullen is a doctor, I mean, how bad can they be? You guys seem pretty cool to me. Look, I'll come and find you when I learn anything new about Sam's plans, okay?" I nod at him and bump him in the chest with my nose. "You're welcome. If I had to guess, I'd say that you have a few weeks. Sam is power crazy and hates vampires with a passion, but he isn't stupid. He's going to want to be prepared." I nod again and step away from him and towards home. Seth doesn't stop me this time. I look behind me and see a sand colored tail vanish amongst the trees.

I reach the Cullens' house but stop before I am out of the tree line. I know that I need to warn the Cullens about Sam, but Seth did say that we had a couple of weeks, so right now, Alice is my priority.

I still don't know how to talk to her. A simple "I'm sorry" doesn't cut it this time. I start to pace again, a sigh escaping me. I sit down and think about what to say. I could tell her the truth, about how I'm scared that I'm not actually her mate and she'll find someone who can take care of her and will be perfect for her, but if I do that, I sound like a pansy. Gah, these difficult decisions kill me. On the other hand, if I just lie and say that I was having a dramatic day and it was that time of the month (which would be even more hysterical if I were a werewolf and not a shifter, there's a difference!!! Just ask the Volturi) she'd know I was lying and pry the truth out of me and she might get mad in the process. So it looks like either way I'm going to have to tell her the truth. This sucks.

I lay down, my head resting on my paws. I need to think through what I am going to say. I know that I need to tell her everything, but I don't know how. I want to make sure that she knows that none of the reasons why I think these things are her fault, that they're mine. I feel a headache forming and close my eyes, hoping it'll go away.

I wake up to find that the sky is painted red, orange, and pink. I also find that I am not alone. I look to my right and see Alice sitting against a tree, staring at me. I turn so that my head is facing her and let out a small whine. She doesn't move, not a muscle. I sigh and I can feel tears stinging my eyes. Fun fact, I can cry as a wolf….just so you know. I force the tears away but not the high pitched whine. I sit up and face her and start to shift back to my human form. I look up, my vision blurry from the tears that are pouring down my cheeks.

"I am so sorry, Alice. I don't know why I snapped at you and then ran off. I was going to make this excuse about it being my time of the month and then laugh because I'm a werewolf, but not really because I don't shift every full moon, but we'd still find it funny, but then I thought that you deserved—" my words are immediately cut off when Alice slams into me.

I am pushed onto my back from the force of her slamming into me. I feel her wrap her arms around my neck and mine wrap around her waist. Her cool breath washes over my neck and I can't help but to pull her closer and bury my face into her neck. The tears start to flow and I sob once.

"I am so sorry Alice." I manage to get out and Alice pulls away. There is a frown on her face and her own eyes are shiny with unshed tears. She wipes my cheeks and leans forward so that our heads are leaning against one another's. I look into her golden eyes and seeing the love there makes a new wave of tears come spilling out of my eyes. This time, Alice kisses them away.

Eventually, my tears stop but Alice and I don't let go of one another. We stay in the trees, hugging each other for a long time before I pull back and force a half smile to my lips.

"I guess we should talk. Well, I should talk; explain why I was acting like a bitch when you had done nothing wrong. God, Alice, I am so sorry." I say shaking my head. All Alice does is gently grab my chin and tilt my head up. She looks at me expectantly but there is patience there, also. I sigh and look away. "Well, the short version is that I think that I'm not your mate." Her eyebrows shoot up and hurt flashes in her eyes for a moment before it is covered up. She pulls her hand away and moves to get up and leave but I grab her wrist and pull her back to me.

"I don't think I'm your mate because you deserve someone who can actually be what you need. You deserve someone that can make you happy, that won't cause problems wherever you go. You deserve someone who you can be around when you're hungry, someone you can have sex with whenever you want, because spontaneous sex is some of the best sex ever," she cocks an eyebrow at me, "not that I would know, of course. You deserve better than a werewolf. You deserve better than me, Alice." I say quietly looking away from her.

The silence is deafening to the point that I look up at her and open my mouth to break it, to tell her that I was sorry, again. The look in her eye, however, stops me. I don't get a chance to read what they are because she is suddenly kissing me, hard.

She settles her weight against me. She moves so that her right hand is tangled in my hair, pulling me closer to her and her left is cupping my jaw. She slides her tongue across my lips and I gasp at the sensation, giving her the opportunity to slip her tongue into my mouth. She runs it along the roof of my mouth before I regain my senses and kiss her back. While our tongues battle for dominance, my hands start to roam all over her body. One cards through her hair until I am holding the back of her neck and pulling her closer.

The other moves south until it reaches the hem of her shirt. I slip my hand under it and move upwards, feeling the cool, hard expanse of her stomach. I move a little further until I reach her bra and she gasps against my mouth. I smirk and kiss across her cheek, down her jaw, and then finally reach her neck. She tilts her head to the side with a groan and I suck hard while simultaneously palming her through her bra.

I lick across her neck, leaving love bites here and there until she jerks my head up and kisses me hard. She shifts so that one of her thighs slips in between mine and I bite down on her lip with a growl, causing her to moan and roll her hips. I pull back from our kiss and stare into her eyes which have gone black.

"Alice, we should continue talking." I say through a moan when she sucks at a spot behind my ear.

"We will, just as soon as we are done with that spontaneous sex you're so fond of." She growls into my ear and I chuckle.

"Well, it is one of the best types." I gasp when she bites my lip.

"You have no idea." She says licking her lips, driving me crazy.

I flip us over and press my body into hers. I kiss her mouth once before I move back down to her neck. Both of my hands are now under her shirt and slowly inching it up. I slide my thigh in between her own so that it's pressing against her core and she hisses, her fingernails digging into my back. I move down her body until I reach her stomach where I leave wet, open mouthed kisses as I move back up her body dragging her shirt with me.

Her shirt is gathered at her breasts and she sits up to help me take it off. I lean up and kiss her once before she lays back down and I focus my attention on her breasts. I move to the tops of them, kissing them gently before moving one hand behind her back and removing her bra. I toss it over my shoulder and I hear her breathe out a laugh.

"I'm going to need that, you know."

"Then feel free to get up and go get it." I say, glancing up at her as I take one of her breasts into my mouth. She doesn't respond, she just groans and her head thuds against the ground. I chuckle but focus back to the task at hand. My right hand trails up her stomach lightly causing her muscles to tense before I gently take her other breast and massage it.

I switched breasts, giving her left the same treatment that I gave the right. I could feel her searching for friction as her hips jump against my thigh. I pull my thigh back so she only had the tiniest amount of pressure and she groans.

"Bella, please." Alice pleads and I laugh and give her a bite to the underside of her breast that would have left a nice bruise had she been human. I pull my thigh away completely and Alice sits up. "Bella!" She whines and nip her other breast and ignore her as I kiss my way down her stomach.

I reach the button of her jeans and kiss my way along the waistband. I hear her growl in frustration and I look up at her. Her teeth are slightly bared and her eyes are pitch black, but her kiss swollen lips and mussed up hair detract any ferocity away from her look. I kiss her stomach once more before I unbutton her pants with my teeth and slowly pull the zipper down.

I take off her pants, looking her in the eye the entire time. I move back so that I am right above her center. I can smell how much she wants me and I can see that she is going to have to grab a new pair of panties. I lean in close and kiss the inside of her thigh. I move in closer, but never where she wants me.

"So help me God, Bella!" Alice growls and I chuckle before taking her underwear in my teeth and pull them down off of her hips and then her legs. I move back up so that I am right in front of her, my breath spilling over her. A high pitched moan reaches my ears as her hips buck up. I wrap one arm around her hips to keep her in place while my other moves up searching for hers. I find her hand and I entwine our fingers together.

"I love you, Alice." I say before I lean down and kiss her core.

Her hips come off of the ground and I tighten the hold I have on her waist. The smell of her is nothing compared to the taste and I can't help but moan at how good she is. I run my tongue over the entirety of her sex and I feel her shudder.

"Bella." She says breathily and I grin. I move to her sensitive nub, flicking my tongue over it rapidly. I untangle our fingers and slide my free hand up to her breast and tweak her nipple. Her back arches off of the ground and she moans, sliding her free hand into my hair and pulling me closer. In response I suck hard on her clit, her hips push against my arm and her legs bracket my head.

I pull back and grin at Alice's groan of frustration. I kiss the inside of her thigh before looking up and seeing that she is staring intently at me. Grinning, I slide my index finger up her slit, just barely dipping inside her folds. Her head falls back and her grip on my hair tightens, pulling me closer to where she wants me.

I nip her thigh, still running my finger up and down her slick fold, and continue to kiss my way to her dripping sex. I study her face for a moment, her lip between her teeth, eyes screwed up tight, and her hair mussed up. I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful. With one final kiss I enter her.

Her hips buck against my arm and her grip on my hair tightens almost painfully. Not moving, I grin at her and just watch. She tries to rock her hips, but I hold her down. Her head snaps up teeth digging into her lip hard enough to make it bleed, were she capable.

"Bella, please." She begs and I can't deny her any longer. I slowly enter her and I can feel that she isn't too far away from going over the edge. I increase my pace and her hips jump in time with my thrusts. I add another finger and her hips start to thrust sporadically. She chants my name breathlessly as I lean down and flick my tongue across her clit. I feel her inner muscles fluttering around my fingers so I enter a third finger and scrape my teeth across her sensitive bud.

Her back bows off the ground, she pulls my head into her with her thighs squeezing either side of my head, her muscles clamp down on my fingers, and she screams my name when her orgasm hits her. I continue to pump my fingers slowly as I gently suck her.

I move slowly up her body, giving each of her breasts a gentle kiss before I reach her face. She's still panting and her eyes are closed, but she has this smile on her face that is part bliss and part love, and it melts my heart. I lean down and kiss her, letting her taste herself briefly before I pull away and rest my forehead against hers.

"So, what do you think? Spontaneous sex is great, isn't it?" I ask grinning like a fool.

"I'd say this is more make up sex, wouldn't you?" She laughs, her voice gravelly from her screaming. I chuckle and kiss her again.

"Spontaneous make up sex?"

"The best sex I've ever had." She says smiling gently up at me and I grin.

"I think that has more to do with who you were having sex with, not the type of sex." She just hums and smiles. I frown, "Are you telling me that the reason it was so great is because it was spontaneous and make up sex? I mean, they are great on their own, and mind blowing together, but seriously?"

"I think this means that we'll have to have non spontaneous and non make up sex just to make sure." I stare at her a moment before grinning.

"I love the way you think."

"I bet you do. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I think it's your turn."

"See? You have so many good ideas." I say before she laughs and pulls me into a deep, hungry kiss.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muwahah!

Two weeks have gone by since Alice and I….made up. Or, as Rosalie likes to put it, I pulled my head out of my ass and saw the light of day. Things are back to normal, we go to school, come home and do our homework, play video games, and go through combat training to prepare for Sam, your everyday, completely normal routine. The only problem is that it's been two weeks, and there have been no sightings, death threats, or even strongly worded letters. It's been completely silent. Which has me tearing my hair out in frustration and nervousness, and as Emmett so kindly said, "dude, relax. You would look fucking ugly bald." I got the last laugh when both Alice and Rosalie smacked him upside the head.

Anyway, the point is that Sam hasn't given any indication that he knows I'm back. But he does know and I know he knows because Seth was good on his word about keeping me updated. He told me that Sam knows, but does nothing. Absolutely nothing. Has them do normal patrolling and training, but they have been put under strict orders to not confront us. When I asked Seth why he just shrugged before apologizing and returning to the reservation.

Which leads us to now. Alice and I cuddled on the same seat on the couch watching Emmett attempting to beat Jasper and Edward in Halo. Oh, yeah, Edward is back. Not that the first few days were awkward or anything, no. Sure, everyone but Carlisle and Esme glared at him and gave him the cold shoulder, but we're past that now…mostly.

"BOOM! Suck it Edward! Head shot, maybe you should learn to find cover." Emmett's shouts were cut off as his player was launched through the air, lifeless and the in game voice kindly informed him that he had lost the lead. "What?"

"You just took a rocket to the face, essentially," Jasper says smugly, "maybe you should learn to find cover?"

"That's not fair! I was rubbing it in Edward's face! Come on!" He desperately glances at Rosalie who shakes her head, holding her hands up.

"If you would have taken two seconds to look at your screen, you would have seen me." Jasper says, taking the opportunity to feed Emmett's character another rocket.

"DUDE! Not cool!" Emmett says, focusing completely on the game and ignoring Jasper's grin and slight shrug.

I shake my head before lifting Alice off of my lap and getting up. I give her a brief kiss before making my way outside. She shoots me a concerned look, but I just smile and continue. I'm not outside long before Alice joins me.

"I know that you want to be alone, probably, but I just wanted to come and make sure you are okay." She says wrapping her arms around my waist, pressing her forehead in between my shoulders.

"I'm fine, really. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it's taking too damn long. I just want to get this over with so that we can move on and be happy."

"I'm happy." Alice says and I turn to face her, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"I am, too. But I want to be able to be happy without being paranoid. I'm tired of constantly glancing over my shoulder looking for things prowling in the shadows." I say, my shoulders dropping.

"I know, sweetheart. All of this waiting is wearing you out." Alice says softly, reaching up and running a thumb across newly formed bags under my eyes. "Sam isn't known for his patience. This whole thing is bound to end soon."

"I just wish I knew when." I whine dropping my head to Alice's shoulder.

Alice stiffens suddenly and a violent growl rips through her chest. I barely turn around in time to see a light blonde wolf shift into human form.

"I might be able to help you with that." The girl says and I pull myself away from Alice, and quickly step towards our visitor.

"Rachel! And you're naked, why are you always naked when we meet?"


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3
> 
> I don't own Twilight or How to Train Your Dragon.... fyi

I take two steps towards Rachel and pull her into a hug. She returns it with a chuckle before pulling back and looking me over.

"I know it hasn't been forever since we last met, but how are you doing? You look like hell."

"Thanks, Rach, that's what every girl wants to hear." I sigh and shrug. "I'm alright. Tired, but alright. It's good to see you." I say pulling her in for another hug.

A very loud, and very mean sounding growl rips through the air to my immediate right and Rachel is all of the sudden no longer in front of me. Instead, she is flying through the air and then landing on the ground with a painful thud.

"I take it you're Alice, then?" She asks wiping dirt and grass off of her body. Alice responds with a hiss and stalks her way back towards Rachel. "Um, Bella dear, call off your drooling girlfriend please, I'm not really in the mood for a wrestling match." Rachel says, even though she widens her stance and I can hear the growl rumbling in her chest.

"Alice?" I say gently, moving towards her, "Alice, love, you can't rip Rachel apart. She's kind of my best friend." Alice's snarl rips through the air and Rachel glares at me.

"Oh, yes, talk about how close we are. That ought to calm her down. Genius." Mentally face palming at my choice of words, I move in front of Alice, blocking Rachel from sight.

"Alice, sweetheart, come on." I cup her cheeks tilting her face up. I smother my chuckle at realizing what Rachel's drooling comment means and with a smile I wipe some of the venom dripping from Alice's teeth with my sleeve. "Alice."

Her eyes flicker to mine and they start to lighten until Rachel lets out a little cough, and they go back to being pitch black. I roll my eyes and pull Alice into a kiss. It starts as gentle pressure, until Alice starts to return to herself and she wraps her arms around my neck, tangling her fingers in my hair.

She groans and pulls me harder against her. My hands slide down her neck and shoulders, roaming her back, before settling on her hips and pulling her against me. She gasps when our hips bump and I take the opportunity to dip my head and explore her neck.

A not so quiet clearing of the throat pulls us apart. Alice's eyes are dark, but not from anger anymore. I give her one last gentle kiss and move to the side, my arm wrapping around her waist.

"Right, um, Alice, this is Rachel. Rachel, Alice." I say trying to stamp down the raging blush in my cheeks. Rachel takes a step forward, hand outstretched, and I feel Alice start to vibrate and I pull her closer. Wondering what could be the problem, I glance at Alice. Her gaze is fixated on Rachel's naked body. "Rach, do you happen to, um, have clothes?" Rachel glances at me confused, and then Alice and realization flickers across her face.

"Oh yeah, hah, just one sec." She chuckles, rubbing the back of her neck. She disappears into the forest for a minute before reappearing having donned jeans, a How to Train Your Dragon sweatshirt, and sneakers. "Better?" She asks and I arch an eyebrow at her. "What?" I glance down at her sweatshirt and then back at her. "Hey! I love that damn movie. Don't judge." I laugh and look at Alice, whose eyes are much lighter than before.

"I'm fine, Bella." Alice says, glancing at me. A small smile pulls at her lips before she pulls away from me and slowly makes her way towards Rachel. "Hi, Rachel. Sorry. You know, about before." Alice sticks her hand out, but looks doubtful about Rachel taking it. For her part, Rachel studies Alice for a moment and I can't help the wave of nervousness that runs through me. Rachel is as easygoing as they get, but once you made her mad or got on her bad side she could hold a grudge forever (in some cases literally), and Alice hadn't exactly been nice. I just hope Rachel understands.

Rachel stares for a moment longer before smiling brightly and grabbing Alice's hand.

"No need to apologize! I should have remembered how…sensitive new mates are. So, my bad." Alice's smile widens and she moves back to my side. "Anywho, like I said earlier, I might be able to help you with your problem. But maybe you want to tell everyone else, who, by the way, are not so subtly listening in, to come out here?" Rachel grins and motions to the door. Sure enough there stands Emmett in the middle of the doorway flanked by Edward and Jasper who are attempting to hide behind one another.

"Well come on out already, I don't bite, that's your thing." Rachel laughs and I sigh. The three of them walk out and are soon followed by Rosalie, Carlise, and Esme.

"The grinning idiot over there is Emmett, that's his mate Rosalie," I say gesturing as Rosalie leans into her husband and sends a thinly veiled glare in Rachel's direction, "that's Edward and Jasper. And these are the leaders of the coven, Carlisle and Esme."

"We prefer family," Esme says, shooting me a light glare," but it's nice to finally meet you, Bella talks about you often." Esme says before pulling Rachel into a hug. It takes a minute for Rachel to respond but she eventually returns the hug. She waves her greeting to the boys and Rosalie before turning to Carlise and offering her hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir." She says, always polite. "Bella told me a little about you, but not much."

"Carlisle, please, and I'm sorry about the others earlier. Bella hadn't told us you were coming, otherwise we would have been better prepared." Carlisle says, glancing my way and I throw my hands up.

"I didn't know she was coming!" Rachel laughs and nods.

"She didn't. I came because I learned something interesting that applies to you all." She says seriously. "May we take this indoors?" Carlisle nods and leads us all back into the house. We all settle into the living room, Rachel leaning against the wall, all eyes on her.

"Can I get you anything, dear? Something to eat or drink?" Esme asks politely and Rachel shakes her head.

"No, thank you." She smiles at Esme before facing the rest of us. "So, how are things going with Sam?"

"Little shit stays on his side of the border and won't come out to play." Emmett says and Rosalie elbows him.

"That's not exactly what she meant." Rosalie says and turns her attention to Rachel, her glare ever present. "The hound wanted to know what's been going on." Rachel's smile slid right off her face and her eyes hardened.

"Indeed blondie. I'm surprised you and your two brain cells figured that out." Rachel said, her voice emotionless. A slight grin tugged at her lips when Rosalie snarled at her words.

"I think it's about time you shut up before my two brain cells and I turn you into a rug, mutt."

"Don't think too much, you might get a headache." I sigh and let my head fall into my hands. I hadn't even thought about Rosalie and Rachel in the same room. Rachel develops a wicked sense of humor when she talks with someone she doesn't like. Even more so when the person makes threats (you'd be surprised how often that happens). Add that to Rosalie's bright and shining (not to mention oh so trusting) personality and I'll be surprised if they don't kill each other before Sam even gets the chance.

"Enough!" I interrupt their argument, my own headache forming. "Rosalie, please. She is here to help. Rachel. Shut up and tell us what you came here to tell us." The two glare at each other before Rachel smiles again.

"Oh yeah, well essentially, Sam is calling on other packs to come and annihilate you all!" She says brightly.


	23. Chapter 23

We all stare at Rachel like her head just popped off and was rolling around on the floor.

"What?" Edward asks dumbfounded and Rachel rolls her eyes like she can't believe that we aren't completely okay with what she told us.

"Sam. Is recruiting. More wolves. To his cause." She says slowly, plopping down next to me. "So far he hasn't had much luck, but there are a few that are willing to wipe out a large vampire coven." She says nonchalantly and glances around the room when no one says anything. "Oh, come on. You don't seriously think that you guys have managed to fall under the radar, do you? You are famous in North America," she glances at Alice and I and winks, "especially since your new addition."

"How much time do we have?" Carlisle speaks up, his voice calm though I can see the worry in his eyes. Rachel looks at him, her eyes serious and her lips frowning (a serious Rachel was a good reason for concern, it means that the problem is too big to hide behind jokes and sarcasm).

"Rachel?" I ask and she turns and faces me, a strained smile pulling at her lips. "When do they get here?"

"Monday."

"But, today is Saturday." Emmett adds helpfully and Rachel turns to him, an actual smile gracing her features.

"I'm glad you know your days of the week. They were planning of attacking today, but I stopped them. Who would want a perfectly good weekend ruined?" Chuckles fill the room and Rachel smiles (damn girl is always the comic relief). "As an added bonus, this means no school for you Monday."

"Or maybe ever again, mutt. How about you take this seriously. How are we just now hearing about this?" Rosalie growls and stares at Rachel suspiciously.

"You are really thinking that I purposefully waited this long to tell you?" Rachel asks, incredulously. Her eyes flash the bright blue that her wolf has and I tense up. "I ran all the way from Mexico to tell you guys. Mexico! There is a grand total of one pack in all of Mexico, and I managed to hear it from them as I was passing by!" She inhales and her eyes flash brightly once more before fading to her normal blue hazel. "Bella is all the family I have. If I could have been here sooner, I would have." Rachel says and gets up and moves from the couch. "I'm going to go. I'll be back in the morning. We have a lot to work on."

"How many are there?" Esme asks worriedly and Rachel grins.

"Enough for it to be a party." She replies and exits the house.

"So, we have two days to prepare to fight a big wolf pack?" Jasper asks, still staring at the door.

"I guess, but we're lucky Rachel is here." I say, wrapping an arm around Alice and tucking her into my side. My gaze lands on Rosalie when she gives a snort.

"Oh, yes, we're saved. My hero!" She exclaims throwing one arm over her eyes.

"If I had to pick one person to have my back in a fight, it would be her. She's been in more fights than anyone else I know. Trust me when I say that we are lucky that she is on our side." I growl out, glaring at Rosalie. She looks away with a muttered "whatever".

"Is that why she has a slight hitch to her step?" Jasper pipes up, glancing between us and the door. I can't help wincing.

"Yeah, it's an old injury from an Irish pack. She was in the middle of a turf war and was passing through when they caught her. They tore her up pretty good, she's lucky she can walk." I say, confused when I feel a wave of sadness runs through me. I glance at Jasper and he refuses to meet my eye. "Anyway, Rachel is right, we need to prepare. And she is certainly the best to learn from. It'll be fun."

XxXxXxXxXx

Slight pressure at my throat wakes me. I open my eyes to a blurry version of Alice's room. The pressure at my throat increases and teeth nip at fragile skin.

"Morning." Alice breathes, moving up to my ear. Kissing and nipping her way there.

"A good morning." I gasp when her sharp teeth nick the shell of my ear. Her breath fans out across my neck when she chuckles.

"Indeed. I say we make it a great one." She slides one knee against my core and a breathy moan escapes my throat. She slants her lips against mine and tangles one hand in my hair. Her other cups my cheek briefly before sliding down to the hem of my shirt and moving underneath it, her chilled skin causing me to gasp. She takes the opportunity to pull my bottom lip in between her teeth and pull gently while her hand travels further north, dragging my shirt with it.

Right before she can reach the underside of my breasts, there is a knock at the door. She pulls away with a sigh, and a whine escapes my throat.

"Duty calls." She says, cupping my face again, and kissing me gently. She climbs off of me and moves towards the door. I sit up quickly, and snag her around the waist. Pulling her in between my legs, I press an urgent kiss to her lips. I pull away moments later and stare into her rapidly darkening eyes.

"I love you." A soft smile touches her lips and she cards her fingers through my hair.

"I love you, too." She kisses me gently and I let her go. She moves towards the door to reveal Jasper on the other side. He directs a smile at us both and clears his throat.

"Rachel is here, and she would like to get started." I stare at Jasper and he clears his throat again. This is the second time that I have a weird emotion coming from him. Yesterday, it was sorrow when I talked about Rachel's injury. Today it's a mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Right. We'll be down in a minute." I say and Alice smiles nodding her agreement. She moves to close the door when Rachel bursts through, squeezing between Jasper and the door frame. I shoot Jasper another look when I am filled with embarrassment.

"Nope, you'll both be down right now. You, missy," Rachel says with a friendly smile and pointed finger, "are a distraction to our dear Bella. Out." Alice laughs and kisses me on the cheek before leaving, dragging Jasper with her. She turns to face me, giving me a once over. "Great, put your hair up and throw on some shorts. We need to get started."

"You didn't have to kick Alice out." I say, pulling on a pair of basketball shorts and quickly looking for my bra.  
"Bull. You two would be distracting one another for the next twenty minutes otherwise." She pauses and shoots me a grin. "Can't say that I blame you." I laugh and throw my shirt at her.

"She's taken, find your own," I start to pull my hair into a ponytail when something occurs to me, "you know, Jasper seems to find you slightly less than irritating." My jaw drops when a blush rises in her cheeks. "Oh my God. You like him?"

"He's cute." She shrugs and tosses my shirt back at me.

"Sure, if you like tall and military." I pull my shirt over my head.

"Versus short and pixie?"

"She's adorable, thank you."

"And he's handsome…for a vampire." I stare at her and she rolls her eyes. "Fine. I may like him….a little bit." I can't help the smile that splits across my face, and I pull her into a hug.

"That's great, Rach! Really."

"Yeah, well, it won't mean anything if we become worm food, so let's go!" I laugh as she shoves me out the door.

Outside everyone is clumped together talking about nothing. As soon as we reach them, they stop and look towards us expectantly…. more specifically, they turn towards Rachel. We sit for a while, staring at her and she looks at us in return.

"Are we going to be doing something today?" Rosalie says bored from her spot next to Emmett.

"Oh, heh, I guess I would be the leader of this merry band of misfits." She claps her hands together and gestures for everyone to come closer. "Right! We'll have to blow up a chantry another day." I roll my eyes and Rachel tosses me a wink. "So, I think that the best way to learn is to just jump right into whatever it is you are doing. So, how about Bella and I against….oh, Carlisle." Carlisle eyes widen slightly, but he steps forward. "Don't act so surprised. You are the leader of the coven," she glances at Esme, "er, family, so you kinda will be high priority. Let's get this show on the road!" She yells excitedly and then shifts and immediately throws herself at Carlisle. I chuckle before shifting and following her lead.

Rachel and I work together. We make sure that all of the Cullen's get to face the two of us together by themselves, and then we pair them up to take us on. Around one o'clock, Rachel stops and gestures the others as well. She turns and faces the woods behind us and her hackles start to raise, a low growl rumbling up from her chest. I step up beside her, trying to find whatever she senses. After a brief moment, Seth steps out from the trees, his hands held in the air. He glances at Rachel and I can see the fear in his eyes.

Rachel growls again and slowly makes her way towards him, but I tug at her tail and she stops. She looks back at me and I shake my head. Her head cocks to the side, but she doesn't move forward, instead, she faces Seth again and growls, keeping her eyes pinned on him. Despite the fear rolling off of him in waves, he steps forward.

"I-I just wanted to let y-you know that you are out of time." Seth stammers out, and Rachel's growling ceases. She sits and stares at the boy, who offers a slightly relieved smile. "Sam has called for reinforcements and they have all gotten here. They plan on attacking tomorrow morning." He glances at Rachel again, "I would say run, but I would just be wasting my breath. And some extra muscle can't hurt." Rachel snorts, and her ears flick in amusement.

"Seth," Carlisle starts, "what is going to happen to you? You have helped us, Sam can't be happy with that." Seth smiles, but it's sad.

"My sister and I are leaving tonight. Sam knows that I have helped you, but he doesn't plan on doing anything about it until after. I'm leaving tonight just in case he changes his mind." Seth says before turning to leave.

"Why don't you join us? We could use the help." Edward asks and Seth turns briefly.

"Because they are still my family and I won't fight them." He vanishes into the trees.

XxXxXxXxXx

After we took a short break, consisting of Rachel and I grabbing lunch, we decided to move to one on one training. Everyone moved towards the tree line waiting quietly for Rachel who was staring into the trees, seemingly looking for something.

"There is a clearing not far from here, right?" She looks over to us and I nod. "They'll want to fight there, or somewhere similar." Rachel turns to face us, arms crossed over her chest. "They'll have more maneuverability that way, and it'll be easier to surround. That being said, I would say take your fight to the forest, if you can. Bella and I will stay out in the open." She smiles and continues, "If anyone needs help, come back into the clearing, and we'll save you. Now, let's get started."

We worked with Emmett and Edward first, I had Edward (after spending ten minutes arguing which ended with me smacking him upside his head and telling him that nothing was going to happen this time) and Rachel had Emmett, much to her amusement. After thirty minutes, and loads of cursing on Emmett's part, we decided to switch. Emmett plopped himself down next to his wife, grumbling about the dirt and grass stains that tie-dyed his shirt and shorts. Alice and Jasper were up next, Alice to Rachel and Jasper to me. We did rounds, who could pin the other best out of five. Jasper and I were equally matched, me barely winning three of the five. Alice did not fare as well, winning none of the rounds. Following them were Carlisle and Esme. Rachel immediately took Carlisle, and started with him. Esme was in front of me, but I wasn't sure what to do.

"Bella, dear, are you alright?" She straightens.

"Yeah, just, ya know, it's… I'm not sure how to attack you." I say and Esme smiles gently.

"Let's see." She throws a right jab that I just manage to avoid, and then kicks my legs out from underneath me. I ignore the howling laughter coming from Emmett and Edward and push myself to my feet. Esme, still smiling, waves for me to come on. Grinning, I shift and go after her. She puts up one hell of a fight and I win only two rounds.

"Remind me to not mess with you." I say, panting, and Esme lets out a quiet laugh.

"Mom! That was badass!" Emmett shouts, a giant grin on his face and Esme rolls her eyes.

"You know that this means he is going to want to fight you right?" Jasper says with a smile and Emmett gives him a shove.

"No, way. She's our mom," he says, but pauses and looks at Esme, "unless you want to?" Everyone laughs and Esme shakes her head.

"Maybe another time, dear." We look over to where Carlisle and Rachel are still going at it, and Alice wraps an arm around my waist, pressing a kiss to my cheek. I turn my head and capture her lips with my own.

Their fight winds down, and ends with Carlisle being slammed down into the ground on his back. Rachel moves to his head and helps him up. She shifts and quickly puts her clothes on.

"Not bad for a doctor. You'll definitely give them mangy things down at the reservation a run for their money." Rachel says, her lips twitching, and Carlisle chuckles. "Now, who's left?" Rosalie steps forward with a glare, a small snarl forming at her lips.  
"Rosalie, dear, I don't think that is the best idea." Esme says, and Rachel smirks.

"I don't want you to break a nail blondie. You sure?" Rosalie responds with a hiss and crouches into her fighting stance. "Alright, if you insist." Rachel sighs and removes her clothes before shifting.

"This could end badly." Esme whispers and I look at her. Concern is marring her features and I pull her into a hug, before moving to her other side so that Alice and I bookend her.

"Rachel won't do anything to hurt her." I say and Esme shakes her head.

"You know that Rosalie has a temper, I just hope she remembers that Rachel is on our side." I can't help but laugh.

"Rachel can take care of herself. She'll make a point that's all."

"I hope you are right. And I hope Rosalie has the sense to see that."

We watch as Rosalie and Rachel circle each other, Rosalie with a snarl and Rachel with a grin…well the best grin that an overgrown wolf can have anyway. Rosalie lunges first, with Rachel swiftly and easily moving out of the way. They continue to circle one another, with Rachel slowly increasing the distance between them. Rachel, after putting a decent distance between them, sprints in a straight line right at Rosalie. With a hiss, Rosalie charges right at her. Right before they collide, Rachel steps to her left letting Rosalie rush by her. Immediately, Rosalie turns around, but Rachel is already on her. She throws all of her weight into Rosalie, making her lose her balance. Rosalie wraps her arms around Rachel's shoulders and twists so that Rachel is thrown into the ground with a loud thud. Rosalie is immediately on top of her and throws a lightning fast punch at Rachel's face. The loud crack that everyone is waiting for never comes, and Rosalie is flying through the air instead. She picks herself up from the ground and looks at her sleeve which is now torn. She growls and launches herself at Rachel who had already recovered. Rachel sidesteps, and grabs Rosalie by the arm. Jerking her head to the right, she lets go, but Rosalie manages to wrap one arm around her neck and swings around Rachel's body so that she lands on the other side. 

She stumbles and I think that that will be the last of the fight, that Rachel will take the opportunity to end it there, but she lets Rosalie recover. Seeing the opportunity, Rosalie jumps at her and slams into her left hip, wrapping her arms around Rachel's middle. A high pitched yelp of pain rings throughout the backyard, but the fighting doesn't stop. Instead, Rachel twists around and grabs Rosalie by her side and throws her against a tree with a sickening crack. The tree groans before crashing towards the ground. Rosalie looks at the tree then at Rachel, growls rumbling up from her chest. I glance at Rachel concerned from her yelp. She makes her way slowly towards Rosalie, but she is favoring her back right leg. I look at Rosalie and see that she has also noticed.

"Oh no." I whisper and both Alice's and Esme's head whip to look at me.

"Babe? What's the matter?" Alice asks and I shake my head. They both stare at me, concerned, but I just tilt my head back towards the fight.

Rachel slowly moves towards Rosalie, keeping her left side slightly shielded by having it face the trees, but Rosalie doesn't move, she just keeps glancing between Rachel and the trees. When Rachel is close enough, she sprints towards her. Rachel braces herself, but Rosalie veers to the right. I can see what is going to happen, and I can see that Rachel does, too, but she doesn't have time to respond. Rosalie reaches the trees, kicks off of one to get momentum and slams, feet first, into Rachel's side.

Rachel starts to fall sideways, a wolf version of a scream ringing through the air, when she grabs Rosalie by the leg and uses her momentum from falling to swing her off of her body and into the ground, leaving a noticeable indentation in the earth. She pulls herself up enough to grab Rosalie around the stomach with her teeth and gives her a shake, before dropping her to the ground and collapsing to her side.

Seeing that the fight is now over, I sprint towards her and skid to her side. She is panting heavily and whining quietly. Carlisle appears at my side and gently prods her hip. A snarl causes him to pull his hand back and kneel next to her.

"I can't see what's wrong and fix it if you won't let me examine you." He says softly, laying a hand on her leg.

"That's the spot I talked about yesterday," I say to Carlisle, "Rach, you have to let him look." I whisper rubbing her ears and she grumbles but puts her head on the ground. Carlisle nods before moving forward and carefully pressing the wound.

"Nothing seems broken, miraculously, but there is a lot of scar tissue here." He moves further down her leg. "It's amazing that she can walk. Her range of motion is unbelievable. I can smell some internal bleeding, she needs to shift back." He places a gentle hand on her hip and a low whine escapes her throat.

"Come on, Rach, shift back." She huffs, but begins phasing back.

"Fuck! Shit, God damn it, hell, Jesus." I laugh and place a kiss on her forehead.

"She's fine. If she is cursing like that, she's fine."

"Fuck you, you'd be cursing, too!" She says wincing. Carlisle stands up and looks over his shoulder.

"Emmett, Jasper, I need to you to take her to my office. I'll be up there shortly." They nod and help Rachel stand up. She leans heavily into Jasper and embarrassment, fear, anger, and worry fill me up. I stare at Jasper, who is too busy with Rachel to notice.

"You know, I usually require dinner before I let a man carry me naked into his house." Rachel says winking and Jasper trips over his feet, embarrassment now the only emotion I can feel. "Away! Take me to your chambers!" I chuckle and look back at Carlisle who is shaking his head.

"There you go. That's Rachel in a nutshell. Bleeding internally and she makes sex jokes." I laugh.

"Is there anything else I should know?" He says seriously.

"Her organs and stuff….they were messed up pretty badly. You're the doctor, but this isn't the first time this has happened, so if you still think that there is internal bleeding after a couple of hours, then there really is a problem. She still super heals, but it's different than mine. Slower."

"Okay, well, I have to let the extra blood go somewhere. I'll let you know when she's all ready to go." Carlisle sighs and heads inside. Alice appears and pulls me into a hug.

"She's going to be okay." She says softly pulling me into a kiss and I kiss her back, pulling her against me. I pull back and look into her eyes. I can see the concern in them, and she is chewing on her lip. Affection bubbles up in me and I press my lips hard against hers. "What?"

"Nothing, just that yesterday you were ready to rip her head off. And to see you concerned about her now," I stop and shrug, not knowing what to say. Alice smiles and runs her fingers through my hair.

"She's not bad. She is rather fun, and after I realized that she wasn't a threat to us, it was easy to like her. Besides, she's important to you, so she is important to me." I smile gently and kiss her again.

"She's not going to be happy. Carlisle has to drain the excess blood and she hates doctors. We should be hearing her inner sailor any minute." Alice chuckles and pulls me in for another kiss.

"FUCK! ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU ARE DOCTOR? I AM GOING TO KILL THAT BLONDE BITCH!" We hear from the house and I laugh. I turn towards Rosalie, who hasn't moved from her spot where Rachel dropped her. She is looking at the ground, her face expressionless. I give Alice one last kiss before pulling away, and making my way over to Rosalie and sit across from her.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, pushing away the anger I was feeling at her. She glances up at me for a moment before looking away.

"Peachy. Let's just pretend I didn't just hurt your friend, very subtle." She looks up and stares intently at me. "Aren't you the tiniest bit angry?"

"I'm livid actually, but I figured I'd give you a chance to talk first before I wolfed out on your ass." I shrug and she lets out a quiet chuckle.

"I was pissed off. She waltzes in here with her jokes and sarcasm and starts directing us around." Rosalie takes a deep breath. "And I realize that she is here to help, but it didn't matter," she exhales, "but I don't know why I did what I did. I mean, I know why, but I shouldn't have. And I am very sorry." I open my mouth but a very amused voice cuts me off.

"Apology accepted, blondie. That's a nice flying kick you got there. You mind if I request that you use that on the enemy next time?" Rosalie looks up, surprised, at Rachel. "Oh, come one. I asked for a practice fight, and you gave me one hell of a practice fight. No hard feelings." She sticks her hand out, and Rosalie stares at it for a moment before taking it with a small smile. "Just so you know, I could have kicked your ass." Rosalie laughs and looks her over.

"Are you alright, I mean….well…. as alright as you can be considering? And I'm pretty sure Carlisle doesn't want you up and about." Rosalie asks, and even though she tries her best to hide it, I can see the concern in her eyes and coloring her tone. Rachel glances down at the hole, which has a small tube in it to prevent her from healing and to help drain the blood, in her stomach.

"Carlisle wants to keep an eye on it and, sure, it hurt like hell, but I should be fine in a few hours. Besides, I don't like sitting around. What's the point of having a doc around of you can't use him?" She places a hand on Rosalie's shoulder. "Really, I haven't had a fight like that in a long time, it's nice to be reminded that I can actually get hurt. Come on, Esme decided that a thirty course meal was in order. Something about it helping me heal faster." Rosalie chuckles and follows Rachel into the house.

"Glad that that is finally worked out." Alice says to my right and I look up at her.

"Me, too." I pull her down and into my lap. "Who knows, tomorrow they could be planning world domination together." Alice laughs and I take the time to watch her. We hadn't really had time to ourselves, and this moment of peace was rare.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about how much I love you," Alice smiles and kisses my gently, "but that we haven't had much time to ourselves. I'm thinking that we should go somewhere, just the two of us, when this is all over. Anywhere you would like." I say, pulling her closer against me.

"Sounds perfect." She whispers against my lips.


End file.
